Abstract
The development of isotopic baselines for comparison with paleodietary data is crucial, but often overlooked. We review the factors affecting the carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic compositions of plants, with a special focus on the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of twelve different species of cultivated plants (n = 91) and 139 wild plant species collected in northern Peru. The cultivated plants were collected from nineteen local markets. The mean δ13C value for maize (grain) was −11.8±0.4 ‰ (n = 27). Leguminous cultigens (beans, Andean lupin) were characterized by significantly lower δ15N values and significantly higher %N than non-leguminous cultigens. Wild plants from thirteen sites were collected in the Moche River Valley area between sea level and ∼4,000 meters above sea level (masl). These sites were associated with mean annual precipitation ranging from 0 to 710 mm. Plants growing at low altitude sites receiving low amounts of precipitation were characterized by higher δ15N values than plants growing at higher altitudes and receiving higher amounts of precipitation, although this trend dissipated when altitude was >2,000 masl and MAP was >400 mm. For C3 plants, foliar δ13C was positively correlated with altitude and precipitation. This suggests that the influence of altitude may overshadow the influence of water availability on foliar δ13C values at this scale.
Highlights
Stable isotope analysis is an important tool for reconstructing the diet, local environmental conditions, migration, and health of prehistoric human and animal populations
Foliar d15N was negatively correlated with altitude (Figure 10a) and mean annual precipitation (Figure 11a), based on the large number of studies finding a strong relationship between rainfall amount and soil, plant, and animal d15N [12,15,85,86,87,172,176,177,178,179], this relationship is likely driven by rainfall
The results of this study suggest that animals feeding on wild plants at drier, low altitude sites would be characterized by higher tissue d15N values than animals feeding on wild plants at wetter, high altitude sites
Summary
Stable isotope analysis is an important tool for reconstructing the diet, local environmental conditions, migration, and health of prehistoric human and animal populations. This method is useful because the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of consumer tissues are directly related to the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of the foods consumed [1,2], after accounting for the trophic level enrichments of 13C and 15N for any particular tissue [3,4]. Interpretations of isotopic data depend on a thorough understanding of the range and variation in isotopic compositions of source materials [5]. Several authors have attempted to develop such isotopic baselines for dietary reconstruction [7,8,9,10], these studies have typically focused on vertebrate fauna
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