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ASSESSING THE EARLY HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENT OF NORTHWESTERN GUYANA: AN ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF HUMAN AND FAUNAL REMAINS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2018

Louisa Daggers ,
Mark G. Plew ,
Alex Edwards ,
Samantha Evans  and
Robin B. Trayler
Louisa Daggers
Affiliation:
Amerindian Research Unit, University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana
Mark G. Plew*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725, USA
Alex Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Samantha Evans
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725, USA
Robin B. Trayler
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725, USA
*
(mplew@boisestate.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

This study uses stable carbon δ13C and oxygen δ18O isotope compositions data to assess the extent to which diet breadths of northwestern Guyana changed during the Holocene. We analyzed human bone and enamel remains from seven shell mound sites dating between 7500 and 2600 BP. Our analyses demonstrate some constancy in C3 plant availability during the past several thousand years, though we note increasing reliance on such plants beginning in the Early Holocene. We also document warming intervals during the Early Holocene (Early Archaic) that appear to correlate with dry periods known elsewhere in the central Amazon during this period.

Esta investigación utiliza datos de isótopos estables de carbono δ13C y oxígeno δ18O para evaluar en qué medida cambió la amplitud de la dieta del noroeste de Guyana durante el Holoceno. Analizamos restos óseos humanos y esmalte de siete concheros fechados entre 7500 y 2600 años aP. Nuestros análisis muestran cierto grado de constancia en la disponibilidad de plantas C3 durante los últimos miles de años, aunque se observa una creciente dependencia en tales plantas a comienzos del Holoceno temprano. También documentamos intervalos más cálidos durante el Holoceno temprano (Arcaico Temprano) que parecen correlacionarse con los periodos secos conocidos en otras partes del Amazonas central durante este lapso.

Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 279 - 292
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by the Society for American Archaeology 

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