Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Stable Isotopic Analysis of Carbon and Nitrogen as an Indicator of Paleodietary Change for Pre-State Metal Age Societies in Northeast Thailand

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

This project will involve chemical analyses of carbon (collagen and apatite) and nitrogen isotope values from a large series of prehistoric human skeletons, prehistoric faunal remains, and modern plants to better understand dietary patterns of the inhabitants of northeast Thailand during the pre-state Metal Age (2000 B.C. to A.D. 500). The project has two central objectives: 1) to characterize possible temporal dietary changes and 2) to integrate these data with published results on subsistence, health and disease. The research results will provide the first detailed documentation of the paleodietary history of mainland Southeast Asia. Evidence from physical anthropology, and archaeological and geoarchaeological excavations suggests environmental, cultural, and biological changes occurred during the pre-state Metal Age in mainland Southeast Asia. People in this region modified their landscape to provide sufficient, and eventually surplus, food resources. Technological refinements in food procurement likely contributed to social stratification and foreign trade. The research hypotheses suggest dietary intake would have changed as a result of human modification of the environment as well as cultural technological changes. Because bone is remodeled over the lifetime of the individual and the carbon and nitrogen in bone derives from dietary sources, bone chemical composition broadly reflects the type of foods consumed. Bone isotope analysis can provide another line of evidence for examining dietary patterns and dietary change over time, and will permit greater understanding of paleodietary differences in northeast Thailand prior to state formation. Thus, this project will provide a foundation for future biogeographical and paleodietary research in this region. The proposed research has outstanding educational opportunities in both laboratory and field data collection and analysis for both the investigators and assistants in Thailand and Hawai. Experience will be gained in physical anthropology and stable isotope geoarchaeology by working closely with established researchers from diverse fields. The investigators will learn first hand a spectrum of state-of-the-art experimental and analytical methods and instrumentation.