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Dietary Reconstruction of the Okhotsk Culture of Hokkaido, Japan, Based on Nitrogen Composition of Amino Acids: Implications for Correction of 14C Marine Reservoir Effects on Human Bones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Yuichi I Naito
Affiliation:
Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha 5-1-5, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
Yoshito Chikaraishi
Affiliation:
Institute of Biogeosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
Naohiko Ohkouchi
Affiliation:
Institute of Biogeosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
Hitoshi Mukai
Affiliation:
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan
Yasuyuki Shibata
Affiliation:
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan
Noah V Honch
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
Yukio Dodo
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
Hajime Ishida
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan
Tetsuya Amano
Affiliation:
Hokkaido University Museum, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Hiroko Ono
Affiliation:
Hokkaido University Museum, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Minoru Yoneda*
Affiliation:
Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha 5-1-5, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The relative contribution of marine-derived carbon in the ancient diet is essential for correcting the marine reservoir effect on the radiocarbon age of archaeological human remains. In this study, we evaluated the marine protein consumption of 3 human populations from the Okhotsk culture (about AD 550–1200) in Hokkaido, Japan, based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions in bulk bone collagen as well as the nitrogen isotopic composition of glutamic acid and phenylalanine. Despite the similarity of carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of bulk collagens, nitrogen isotopic composition of their constituent amino acids suggests differences in fur seal contributions among northern Hokkaido (0–24% for Kafukai 1, 0–10% for Hamanaka 2) and eastern Hokkaido (78–80% for Moyoro) populations. It suggests that nitrogen composition of glutamic acid and phenylalanine could provide a detailed picture of ancient human subsistence.

Type
Bone Dating and Paleodiet Studies
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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