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Changes in Neolithic Subsistence Patterns on Flores, Indonesia Inferred by Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen Isotope Analyses of Sus from Liang Bua

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Date Issued:
2013
Abstract/Description:
Despite an abundance of archaeological material recovered from sites in Island Southeast Asia, the timing and route by which cultigens first arrived in Wallacea remains unclear. Many of the staple crops now grown on these islands were domesticated in mainland Asia, and were deliberately introduced by humans at an unknown point during the Holocene, through several possible routes. In this study, the ?13C, ?15N and ?18O values of subfossil bones and teeth attributed to Sus celebensis and Sus scrofa are analyzed. These materials, which span the last 5160 years at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia are used to determine if and when there was a shift towards agricultural intensification, and whether this intensification included the integration of domesticated C4 crops. The ?13C and ?15N values of the bone and dentin collagen samples indicate an abrupt shift towards enrichment in 13C and depletion in 15N at some time between 5160 and 2750 yBP. This hints at changes in human subsistence patterns that may have included the clearing of forests, and the integration of non-endemic C4 cultigens such as foxtail millet (Setaria italica) onto the island. No statistically significant variation in the ?18O values of the enamel carbonate samples over time is observed, suggesting that once they appeared on Flores, semi-domesticated pigs became an important part of the island ecosystem, and were bred and raised on Flores instead of being continuously imported from elsewhere.
Title: Changes in Neolithic Subsistence Patterns on Flores, Indonesia Inferred by Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen Isotope Analyses of Sus from Liang Bua.
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Name(s): Munizzi, Jordon, Author
Dupras, Tosha, Committee Chair
Williams, Lana, Committee Member
Schultz, John, Committee Member
Tocheri, Matthew, Committee Member
, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2013
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Despite an abundance of archaeological material recovered from sites in Island Southeast Asia, the timing and route by which cultigens first arrived in Wallacea remains unclear. Many of the staple crops now grown on these islands were domesticated in mainland Asia, and were deliberately introduced by humans at an unknown point during the Holocene, through several possible routes. In this study, the ?13C, ?15N and ?18O values of subfossil bones and teeth attributed to Sus celebensis and Sus scrofa are analyzed. These materials, which span the last 5160 years at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia are used to determine if and when there was a shift towards agricultural intensification, and whether this intensification included the integration of domesticated C4 crops. The ?13C and ?15N values of the bone and dentin collagen samples indicate an abrupt shift towards enrichment in 13C and depletion in 15N at some time between 5160 and 2750 yBP. This hints at changes in human subsistence patterns that may have included the clearing of forests, and the integration of non-endemic C4 cultigens such as foxtail millet (Setaria italica) onto the island. No statistically significant variation in the ?18O values of the enamel carbonate samples over time is observed, suggesting that once they appeared on Flores, semi-domesticated pigs became an important part of the island ecosystem, and were bred and raised on Flores instead of being continuously imported from elsewhere.
Identifier: CFE0004728 (IID), ucf:49820 (fedora)
Note(s): 2013-05-01
M.A.
Sciences, Anthropology
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): stable isotope analysis -- Flores -- Liang Bua -- Indonesia -- Wallacea -- Neolithic -- foxtail -- millet -- rice -- domestication -- archaeology -- southeast asia -- island southeast asia -- Austronesian -- pigs -- sus -- sus scrofa -- collagen -- carbonate
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004728
Restrictions on Access: public 2013-05-15
Host Institution: UCF

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