Introduction to Paleodiets and mobility

Recommended Prerequisites

There are no recommended prerequesites.

Teaching Methods

Power point presentations are used in theoretical and practical classes, which are afterwards made available for the students. In the practical classes the students have the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge on the resolution of practical cases and whenever possible laboratorial analysis of calculus samples will take place.

Learning Outcomes

This curricular unit aims to provide the students with the basic knowledge that will allow them to characterize the diet and investigate the mobility of past human communities, based on their skeletons. Since diet encloses a biological component that can not be dissociated from the expressions of social nature it assumes a major relevance on the understanding of how humans adapt to their environment.
Different approaches for diet and mobility characterization of past human populations will be presented. As direct methods, a particular emphasis will be put forward on bone chemical analysis, such as C, N and S stable isotope analysis to infer diet and Sr, O and S stable isotopes in what concerns mobilty, as well as dental calculus analysis. Besides the perception of the theoretical background underlying the application of these direct techniques, the students are expected to be able to interpret their results in a credible manner.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The importance of paleodiets analysis.

Different approaches to paleodiets: direct and indirect methods.

Trace elements analysis: main elements used in diet reconstruction. Trace elements variability.

C, N and S stable isotopes analysis to infer diet of past human populations. The use of stable carbon and nitrogen in the distinction between diets based on C3 and C4 plants, marine versus terrestrial food and riverine resources. The nitrogen isotopes in the discrimination of resources of marine, terrestrial and riverine origin. The influence of environmental factors and the action of diagenesis on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes.

Sr, O and S stable isotope stable isotope analysis to infer mobility of past human communities.

Dental calculus analysis as a direct way to infer diet. 

Head Lecturer(s)

Cláudia Isabel Soares Umbelino

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 30.0%
Synthesis work: 70.0%

Bibliography

Geber, J.; Tromp, M.; Scott, A.; Bouwman, A.; Nanni, P.; Grossmann, J.; Hendy, J.; Warinner, C. 2019. Relief food subsistence revealed by microparticle and proteoimic analyses of dental calculus from victims of the Great Irish Famine. PNAS 24(116): 19380-19385.

MacRoberts, R.A.; Barrocas Dias, C.M.; Fernandes, T.M.; Santos, A.L.; Umbelino, C.; Gonçalves, A.; Santos, J.; Ribeiro, S.; Schöneh, B.R.; Barros, F.; Correia, F. & Vasconcelos Vilar, H.; Maurer, A-F. 2020. Diet and mobility during the Christian conquest of Iberia: The multi-isotopic 2 investigation of a 12th-13th century military order in Évora, Portugal. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 30.

Umbelino, C. 2006. Outros sabores do passado: as análises de oligoelementos e de isótopos estáveis na reconstituição da dieta das comunidades humanas do Mesolítico final e do Neolítico final/Calcolítico do território português. Dissertação de Doutoramento em Antropologia, Departamento de Antropologia, Universidade de Coimbra.