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Prehistoric Diet in Southwest Texas: The Coprolite Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Vaughn M. Bryant Jr.
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Abstract

This report discusses the various kinds of data that are recoverable from the analysis of human coprolites and demonstrates how these techniques are applied to the specific analysis of prehistoric human coprolites recovered from site 41 VV 162 in southwest Texas. The data from these 43 coprolite samples are used to: (1) reconstruct aboriginal diet patterns in southwest Texas between 800 B.C. and A.D. 500; (2) predict specific periods of seasonal site occupancy; (3) distinguish between pollen resulting from the eating of certain plant foods and background pollen resulting from the normal pollen rain; and (4) make limited generalizations concerning the regional paleoenvironment between 800 B.C. and A.D. 500.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , July 1974 , pp. 407 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1974

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