Variability in stable isotope ratios in two Late-Final Jomon communities in the Tokai coastal region and its relationship with sex and ritual tooth ablation

Abstract

We analyzed stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in a sample of human and nonhuman mammal bones excavated from the Yoshigo and Inariyama shell mounds of the Late-Final Jomon periods in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, with a view to determining individual dietary differences. To investigate possible reasons for the dietary variations identified, we related isotope ratios to sex and tooth ablation patterns. At both sites, large intra-site variations in δ 13 C and δ 15 N values were found, compared with other Jomon populations previously studied, suggesting higher than usual levels of dietary variability, and at both sites there was a positive correlation between δ 13 C and δ 15 N values. The diet of the Jomon people at both these sites had two main protein sources: marine (marine finfish and shellfish) and terrestrial (C 3 plants and terrestrial mammals) protein. The intra-site variability is probably explained by consumption of these resources in different proportions. Analysis of the Yoshigo shell mound data indicated that sex is one of the factors determining dietary difference. It was also found that individual differences in diet in Yoshigo males are greater than in females. This pattern was repeated in the Inariyama shell mound data. Dietary differences were found to be related to ritual tooth ablation characteristics, particularly in males. At Inariyama, type 4I ritual tooth ablation was associated with comparatively greater dependency on terrestrial resources, while type 2C tooth ablation was associated with greater dependency on marine resources. This may indicate that type 4I males engaged predominantly in hunting, and type 2C males in fishing, as a means of food acquisition. These results are possibly the earliest evidence of occupational differentiation in the Jomon people.

Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and dog diet in the Okhotsk culture: perspectives from the Moyoro site, Japan

“…In Japan, δ 13 C values have been used to determine the consumption of C 4 plant and marine protein sources (Chisholm et al, 1992;Yoneda et al, 2004a). Nitrogen isotope ratios are primarily used to estimate the amount of terrestrial vs. marine proteins in the diet and compare them among individuals of the same or different populations (Minagawa and Akazawa, 1992;Kusaka et al, 2008Kusaka et al, , 2010.…”

“…13 C and δ 15 N values of mainland Jomon huntergatherers are typically within -20‰ to -15‰ and 6‰ to 15‰, respectively (Minagawa, 2001;Yoneda et al, 2004a;Kusaka et al, 2008Kusaka et al, , 2010Naito et al, 2013). Mainland Jomon hunter-gatherers mainly depended on C 3 terrestrial ecosystems, and their isotope ratios vary according to the marine protein consumption.…”

Hunter–gatherer foraging ranges, migrations, and travel in the middle Holocene Baikal region of Siberia: Insights from carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures

“…Recent applications include questions of diet variability and use of more specific food resources, mobility and migrations, as well as social structure and marriage patterns in a wide variety of geographic and archaeological settings. Particularly relevant to our case are those that involve past hunter-gatherers (e.g., Fornander et al, 2008;Eriksson et al, 2008;Fischer et al, 2007;Kusaka et al, 2008Kusaka et al, , 2009Schulting and Richards, 2001;Schulting, 2010). This work has documented substantial dietary variability among past hunter-gatherers and revealed many new insights about economic, social, and political complexity and diversity in past foraging adaptations.…”

“…Of particular interest are aquatic settings such as Northwestern Europe and Scandinavia, northern Pacific Rim, inland northern Eurasia and North America, and southern South America (Chisholm et al, 1983;Eriksson and Lidén, 2003;Kusaka et al, 2008Kusaka et al, , 2010Kuzmin et al, 2002;Milner et al, 2004;Minagawa and Akazawa, 1992;Richards and Hedges, 1999;Roksandic et al, 1988;Schulting, 1998;Yesner et al, 2003;Yoneda et al, 2002Yoneda et al, , 2004.…”

Dental metric variability associated with human migration from skeletal remains of two Jomon sites (Yoshigo and Inariyama) in the Atsumi Peninsula area

“…Watanabe (1990) proposed that occupational differentiation had appeared in the Jomon society, on the basis of an ethnographic comparison with recent sedentary huntergatherers. The presence of interfamilial occupational differentiation (hunting vs. fishing) of the Jomon people in the Atsumi Peninsula has been supported by carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotope analyses (Kusaka et al, 2008, suggesting an increased social complexity in the Final Jomon period.…”