Human Paleodiet at Grand Bay, Carriacou, Lesser Antilles

Abstract

ABSTRACT The island of Carriacou in the southern Grenadines, Lesser Antilles, has been the focus of interdisciplinary archaeological research since 2003, focused on ceramic-associated assemblages dating between c. AD 400 and 1300. Amerindians here exploited marine foods, but patterned subsistence has not been inferred directly from recovered human remains. Here, we present the first stable isotope data from bone collagen and bone apatite of individuals (n = 14) from the Grand Bay site that date to post–AD 1000. Average δ13Cco (−12.8‰), δ15N (11.1‰), δ13Cap (−8.6‰), and Δ13Cap-co (4.1‰) values substantiate a marine-based diet. No significant differences are observed between males and females; however, one subadult is an isotopic outlier based on its δ13Cco and Δ13Cap-co values. Bone collagen values suggest high marine protein at Carriacou, different from data reported for contemporaneous groups in the Greater Antilles, broadly similar to the northern Lesser Antilles, and most similar to the Bahamas, where reef-based systems are ubiquitous. Bone apatite and bone collagen isotope results underscore the importance of shellfish on Carriacou as previously observed in the zooarchaeological record. At present, these data do not provide the interpretative power to confirm or refute the presence/absence of maize in the diet during the mid-Ceramic Saladoid in the southern Lesser Antilles.