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Isotopic and Mortuary Variability in a Middle Mississippian Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mark R. Schurr
Mark R. Schurr*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556
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Abstract

Stable-isotopic studies of prehistoric diet have usually confined discussions of isotopic variability within populations to sex-related differences in diet and have rarely considered other social or cultural sources of dietary variation. Extant data from eastern North America suggest that isotopic variation (and hence dietary variation) may have been greatest within the relatively complex Middle Mississippian societies of the late prehistoric period. Correlations between isotopic variability and mortuary variability (an indication of social position) were identified in a sample of burials from the Angel site, a Middle Mississippian (A.D. 1200-1450) civic-ceremonial center in southwestern Indiana. These correlations demonstrate how contextually informed isotopic studies can be used to examine the relations between social position and diet. This approach may be especially useful for studies of social interactions between different populations.

Resumen

Resumen

Los estudios sobre dietas prehistóricas mediante el análisis de isótopos estables normalmente confinan la interpretación de la variabilidad isotópica dentro de poblaciones a diferencias en la alimentación relacionadas con el sexo, ignorandopor lo general otras causas sociales y culturales de variación en la dieta. Datos disponibles para el Este de Norteamérica sugieren que la variación isotópica (y por consiguiente la variación en la dieta) alcanzó un nivel máximo en las sociedades relativamente complejas "Middle Mississippi" del período prehistórico tardío. Correlaciones entre variabilidad isotópica y variabilidad funeraria (un indicador de posición social) fueron identificadas en una muestra de enterramientos del sitio Angel, un centro cívico-ceremonial Middle Mississippi (1200-1450 D. C.) en el suroeste de Indiana. Estas correlaciones demuestran cómo los estudios isotópicos pueden ser utilizados para examinar las relaciones entre posición social y dieta cuando se toman en cuenta los contextos. Este enfoque puede resultar particularmente útil para estudios de interaccion social entre diferentes poblaciones

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , April 1992 , pp. 300 - 320
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1992

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References

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