Easter Island (or Rapa Nui), internationally renowned for its megalithic statues, is the most isolated inhabited island of the Pacific. Archaeological surveys undertaken fromthe end of the 19th century led to the discovery of the remains of several hundred human individuals. The majority were buried in monuments (funerary stone platform called ahu) or in caves. This paper presents a study of the ancient Easter Islanders' diet through carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human tooth and bone collagen and, more particularly, evaluates the impact of gender, age, social status and location of burials. The 125 studied individuals are from 16 sites, which date mainly fromthe 17th to the 19th centuries. This anthropological material is housed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural sciences and the Father Sebastián Englert Anthropological Museum of Easter Island. One hundred and seven individuals showed well-preserved collagen. The stable isotope data provide new information on ancient Easter Islander dietary habits. They demonstrate gender disparity in access to food resources and show that children were breastfed until 3 years of age. Furthermore, the isotopic signatures cluster according to the place of burial (ahu) indicating family dietary specificities. Finally, our study reveals influences of social status on food intake: individuals from Ahu Nau Nau, which is said to be the royal ahu, display the highest nitrogen and carbon isotope values. A greater consumption of marine products may explain this distinction.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Caverne X in Waulsort (Namur province, Belgium), excavated in the 19th century, revealed a burial site which was unexpectedly dated to the Final Upper Paleolithic (10,820 ± 80 BP, OxA-6856) in the 1990’s. A re-examination of the collection and a new radiocarbon dating program was recently undertaken. The dates obtained on four left femurs (9285 ± 30 BP, ETH-74725; 9310 ± 30 BP, ETH-74726; 9340 ± 30 BP, ETH-74727; 9300 ± 30 BP, ETH-74728) revealed that the remains should in fact be attributed to the Early Mesolithic,consistent with 24 other 14 C dates obtained for eight cave sites in the Meuse Basin which range from ca . 9600 BP to 9000 BP. Caverne X contained 544 human remains belonging to at least nine individuals (one fetus, one perinatal/young child, one teenager, two adolescents/young adults and four adults), and 66 faunal remains consisting mainly of intrusive animals with the possible exception of a cervid antler, and one artefact (a small flint blade). Other than ochre deposits, all alterations (breakage, surface abrasion, impact scars and concretions) are post-depositional in origin. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis indicates a diet primarily based on terrestrial resources from an open landscape with proteins provided by large herbivores. Our study shows that Caverne X fits well with results already obtained for the Meuse Basin cave burials in terms of chronology, minimum number of individuals, funerary rituals and diet.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
