Browsing by Author "Swift, J"

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    Retention of hunter-gatherer economies among maritime foragers from Caleta Vitor, northern Chile, during the late holocene: evidence from stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of skeletal remains
    (Elsevier Science Ltd., 2013-05-01) Roberts, A; Donald Plate, F; Petruzzelli, B; Carter, C; Westaway, M; Santoro, CM; Swift, J; Maddern, T; Jacobsen, GE; Bertuch, F; Rothhammer, F
    On the basis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human remains, this paper provides evidence for the retention of hunter-gatherer economies among coastal inhabitants in northern Chile during the late Holocene - at the same time that inland populations were adopting agricultural economies. Coastal diets from the Caleta Vitor region of the Atacama Desert were dominated by marine-based foods, predominantly from upper trophic levels. The focus on reliable marine food resources is interpreted as a risk minimisation strategy in this marginal arid environment. Although these coastal hunter-gatherers adopted other goods and traditions from agricultural populations, their participation in this larger interregional exchange network did not affect their basic subsistence economies. On the basis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human remains, this paper provides evidence for the retention of hunter-gatherer economies among coastal inhabitants in northern Chile during the late Holocene - at the same time that inland populations were adopting agricultural economies. Coastal diets from the Caleta Vitor region of the Atacama Desert were dominated by marine-based foods, predominantly from upper trophic levels. The focus on reliable marine food resources is interpreted as a risk minimisation strategy in this marginal arid environment. Although these coastal hunter-gatherers adopted other goods and traditions from agricultural populations, their participation in this larger interregional exchange network did not affect their basic subsistence economies. Associated new radiocarbon dates from the site are also discussed. Skeletal remains and artefacts associated with the Caleta Vitor shell middens generally originate from sites with dates ranging from c. 9000-476 BP. However, the human remains that are the subject of this research cover the time period c. 4000-476 BP.© 2013, Elsevier Ltd.
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    Skeletal arsenic of the pre-Columbian population of Caleta Vitor, northern Chile
    (Elsevier B.V., 2015-06-01) Swift, J; Cupper, ML; Greig, A; Westaway, MC; Carter, C; Santoro, CM; Wood, R; Jacobsen, GE; Bertuch, F
    Exposure to toxic arsenic has severe health consequences for past and present societies. This research resolves changes in a pre-Industrial population's exposure to the toxin within an arsenic-endemic area of the Atacama Desert of northern Chile over long timescales. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) trace element analysis of human bone and tooth samples from 21 burials at Caleta Vitor on the Pacific coast of northern Chile has established that the pre-Columbian inhabitants were exposed to elevated levels of arsenic where one third of the sample population had accumulated levels in their skeletal system indicative of chronic poisoning. Coupled with new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages for the skeletal samples, spanning c. 3867 to 474 cal BP and encompassing all major cultural periods of the region, these results demonstrate the continual risk of arsenic poisoning over several millennia of occupation at one site. Numerous factors may have partially contributed to the population's inferred poisoning, due to the complex interaction of various environmental sources of arsenic and human behaviours. Increased exposure to arsenic could relate to climatic variability influencing sources of drinking water or anthropogenic activities such as mining and metallurgy or dietary changes associated with agriculture. Assessment of these potential sources of arsenic toxication, including evaluation of modern environmental data from the region, suggests contaminated drinking water was the most likely cause of arseniasis. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.