Doctoral Dissertation Research: Resource Intensification and Sedentism in Prehistoric Central California: A Bioarchaeological Perspective on Diet and Disease

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The bioarchaeology of central California is a neglected area of anthropological research, in part reflecting the misconception that prehistoric societies from this region exhibited little cultural change through time. Archaeological investigations over the past several decades, however, have revealed substantial change in subsistence patterns from a more generalized large-game hunting adaptation in the Early Period (4500-2800 BP) to a more sedentary lifeway involving the adoption of an acorn-storage economy during the Middle Period (2800-1200 BP). In this project, the investigators will measure stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in human bone, and will study skeletal and dental evidence of disease to examine temporal changes in diet, health, and the sexual division of labor in archaeological skeletons from central California. This study will be the first to evaluate prehistoric diet and health trends in the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta using data from stable isotope analysis in conjunction with paleopathology.Although population numbers in central California were among the highest in North America at the time of European contact, high population density was maintained in the absence of agriculture. Many researchers have argued that the increase in abundance of mortar and pestle technology throughout the Middle Period signified a transition toward intensified acorn use, which may have provided significant nutritional benefits since acorns are high in fat, can be stored for long periods, and would have provided a valuable buffer against winter food shortages. More recently, others have argued that increased sedentism and population growth throughout the Middle and Late Period resulted in the depletion of large fauna, leading to the intensification of less optimal foods, such as acorns and marine foods. Although resource intensification models predict conditions associated with declining health, few studies have directly evaluated the health consequences of subsistence change and sedentism in central California. The results of this project will provide a continuous biological record of prehistoric diet and health for over three millennia of California prehistory, and will further provide the foundations for future investigations in the region. This study will greatly contribute to our understanding of the biology of prehistoric California societies, and will serve as a basis for comparison with other nonagricultural sedentary societies. One of the broader impacts of this project is that it will provide the researcher with advanced graduate training and access to state of the art methods in stable isotope analysis that will foster future investigations in paleodietary research. Additionally, this research will be a valuable contribution toward understanding the earliest lifeways of California's indigenous populations, which will be of interest to living Native American peoples.