Doctoral Dissertation Research Award: Establishing A Wild Resource Isotopic Baseline For Behavioral Reconstruction

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Under the direction of Dr. Joan Coltrain Mr. Michael Lewis will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. These consist of isotope values derived from present day plants located on the Cedar Mesa in southeast Utah. With this information it will be possible to gain insight into the diet of prehistoric farmers on the Colorado Plateau. The goal of the research is to use isotopic data derived from human skeletal material to reconstruct individuals' diets and then gain insight into group social organization. This project translates sex-based differences in human bone chemistry into distinct dietary differences, clarifying the economic roles of men and women in prehistoric society. While the data to be collected will be used to reconstruct the past, the information will also have relevance for understanding water, soil and plant interactions in the desert west, and will contribute to developing strategies for responsibly balancing preservation, recreation and economic development on the Colorado Plateau. This project has four components. First, the investigators will analyze modern flora collected on Cedar Mesa, southeast Utah in 2014. Sampling locations will be selected to determine the extent to which environmental variation can influence isotope ratios within a single species. Second, bone collagen from faunal specimens from archaeological sites on Cedar Mesa will be obtained, extracted and analyzed. This will permit researchers to estimate the isotopic values of lean muscle consumed by prehistoric hunters. Third, pit-roasting of banana yucca "hearts", an important component of Cedar Mesa prehistoric diet, will be simulated under controlled conditions, permitting the isotopic comparison of the edible portion of the heart with the composition of yucca fibers which are often recovered archaeologically. Finally, the above plant and animal will then combined with published data on human burials from the Cedar Mesa area to reconstruct diet. This will permit researchers to determine the relative contributions of plant and animal foods in a cross gender comparison. Results will be published to the scientific community and presented to the public through local educational outreach.