Abstract
In precolumbian insular Caribbean archaeological sites, domestic dog (Canis familiaris) remains have been recovered from varied contexts, such as formal burials, in refuse deposits, and as modified artifacts, indicating their complex and multifaceted role within indigenous societies. In this study, isotopic and morphometric analyses provide biochemical and morphological correlations to assess this differential treatment. We examined collagen values (n = 21) of carbon (δ13Cco) and nitrogen (δ15N), and enamel values (n = 81) of carbon (δ13Cen), oxygen (δ18Oen), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) of dog remains from 16 precolumbian sites. Five comparative parameters were used to assess dietary variations between different groups: buried versus nonburied, local versus nonlocal, Greater versus Lesser Antilles, chronology, and modified versus unmodified remains. The only statistically significant difference in diets was between local and nonlocal dogs. Sufficient data were available to conduct isotopic mixing models using the FRUITS statistical program on four individuals for which depositional and morphological data were available. Results of dietary modeling indicate an unexpectedly heavy reliance on plant foods consistent with intentional feeding. This approach highlights the utility of combining isotope analysis, dietary models, morphometrics, and depositional context to provide comprehensive biographic overviews of individual animals.
Highlights
In precolumbian insular Caribbean archaeological sites, domestic dog (Canis familiaris) remains have been recovered from varied contexts, such as formal burials, in refuse deposits, and as modified artifacts, indicating their complex and multifaceted role within indigenous societies
Thirteen of 50 samples possess strontium isotope ratios interpreted as nonlocal (Figure 2b) and showed relative enrichment in δ13Cen values
A t-test confirmed a significant difference in means (t = 2.2638, p = 0.029079)
Summary
In precolumbian insular Caribbean archaeological sites, domestic dog (Canis familiaris) remains have been recovered from varied contexts, such as formal burials, in refuse deposits, and as modified artifacts, indicating their complex and multifaceted role within indigenous societies. Laffoon and colleagues (2019) incorporated strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and carbon (δ13C) isotope values from El Flaco and El Cabo in the Dominican Republic and from Morel and Anse à la Gourde in Guadeloupe, demonstrating similarities between human and dog diet and mobility patterns at these sites. These human–dog linkages were previously reported globally in diverse archaeological contexts, leading to the proposition of a “canine surrogacy approach” in which dogs could be used as an isotopic surrogate for human remains (Guiry 2012)
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