R.J. Schulting
Dogs, Ducks, Deer and Diet: New Stable Isotope Evidence on Early Mesolithic Dogs from the Vale of Pickering, North-east England
Schulting, R.J.; Richards, M.P.
Authors
M.P. Richards
Abstract
We present new carbon and nitrogen isotope values for two domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and an aquatic bird (Grus grus) from the Mesolithic sites of Star and Seamer Carr, Yorkshire, England. Previous measurements of the carbon isotopes of the Seamer Carr dog were undertaken by Clutton-Brock & Noe-Nygaard (1990). They interpreted the δ13C values as indicating a partly marine diet, and suggested that this was evidence for a seasonal movement of people and their domestic dogs between the coast and the inland Seamer Carr site. Day (1996) questioned this interpretation, arguing that the dog's δ13C values resulted from the consumption of aquatic foods from the ancient lake in the Vale of Pickering, thereby undermining any suggestion of seasonal movements to the coast. Day's argument is based on the assumption that the freshwater lake near Seamer/Star Carr contained δ13C-enriched dissolved CO2 from limestone, resulting in plants and aquatic birds with values mimicking those of a marine system. Here, we re-measure the carbon values of the Seamer Carr dog and provide new data for a dog and an aquatic bird from Star Carr. These new carbon and nitrogen isotope values indicate that the Seamer Carr dog did indeed consume significant amounts of marine protein, while the Star Carr dog did not. The aquatic bird did not have enriched δ13C values as Day predicted, and therefore we found no evidence to support Day's assumptions. Our new data supports the position that there could have been seasonal movements between the coast and inland during the Early Mesolithic at the site of Seamer Carr.
Citation
Schulting, R., & Richards, M. (2002). Dogs, Ducks, Deer and Diet: New Stable Isotope Evidence on Early Mesolithic Dogs from the Vale of Pickering, North-east England. Journal of Archaeological Science, 29(4), 327-333. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.2002.0707
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Apr 1, 2002 |
Deposit Date | Jul 20, 2009 |
Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science |
Print ISSN | 0305-4403 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 29 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 327-333 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.2002.0707 |
Keywords | Mesolithic, Dog, Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, Collagenstar carr, Seamer Carr. |
You might also like
Strontium isotope evidence for landscape use by early hominins
(2011)
Journal Article
Isotopic evidence for the diets of European Neanderthals and early modern humans
(2009)
Journal Article
Stable isotope and DNA evidence for ritual sequences in Inca child sacrifice
(2007)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Durham Research Online (DRO)
Administrator e-mail: dro.admin@durham.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search