Using carbon isotopes to reconstruct prehistoric human diet

An Overview of the Use of Carbon Isotopes to Reconstruct the Prehistoric Human Diet

I . Introduction

The quest for knowledge and understanding of how ancient human populations evolved is based on archeological finds and artifacts that have managed to survive the passage of time and exposure to the elements . Such evidence available to scientists could provide insights into the factors that drove the evolution and development of the human race as it is now . It will also reveal how such factors led to the transformation of hunter-gatherer societies into agriculture-based

societies

The major challenge is the correct interpretation of such evidence , but even the most experienced scientists and analysts fail to completely agree on how far accepted interpretations can be considered valid and accurate . In the absence of written or oral evidence , much of what is now known is based on what scientists have been able to infer based on the available data which are by no means infallible or completely confirmed

Because there is a dearth of verifiable benchmarks by which scientists may confidently base their conclusions , the quest is ongoing to establish them using various methods of inquiry . One of these is the field of bioarcheology , more specifically that of reconstructing the prehistoric human diet or paleodietary studies . A study on the prehistoric human diet will provide clues as to the behavioral societal , ecological , evolutionary and physical environment that these ancient civilizations had existed in . It may also indicate the changes in human history they had witnessed and adapted to as evidence by any shift in dietary intake that may have occurred . While much of the conclusions will be inferential , such information will theless have significance in the fields of archeology , anthropology and evolutionary medicine

Reconstructing ancient diets has gained grounds as a significant part of any archeological study , and scientists have had to rely on artifacts from archeological sites . This has led to the rise of bioarcheology as a branch of the field which specifically focus on the health , diet and daily activities of old cultures such as that of Native Americans and Southern African hunter gatherers . The literature available for the latter is especially extensive , and have had a significant impact on how anthropologist reconstruct the lifestyle of these hunter-gatherers which in turn has shaped modern views of that type of society

The challenge to scientists , therefore , is to substantiate these views by providing measurable evidence that can be reasonably inferred to be accurate . Furthermore , there has been a growing inquiry as to whether the s of the ethnography of Later Stone Age societies as evidenced from archeological artifacts in southern Africa can be used to accurately interpret historical perspectives of the prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies

Some of the questions that archeologists find difficult to answer are based on the variability of the societies themselves , such as the extent to which hunter-gatherers ranged over a presumably resource-rich environment , how the societal hierarchy determined the behavior of the tribe , if any existed , and whether some societies chose to...