Palaeodiet and infant feeding in coastal Arctic settlements

This dissertation research employs biomolecular methods (stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, amino acid analysis) to study the day-to-day activities that sustain human societies in the arctic and subarctic environments of North America and Siberia. Maintenance activities, such as food preparation, childcare, and the care of domestic animals, are commonly inflected by social identity and can provide insight into the experience of gender among archaeological populations. The dissertation is comprised of five manuscripts: a methodological paper presenting a best practice for the pre-treatment of arctic bone samples; a review of stable isotope studies of Arctic populations; and three bioarchaeological applications that variously employ stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, and isotopic analysis of amino acids to examine dog provisioning and infant feeding practices in the North American and Siberian Arctic. The isotopic evidence for dog diets largely corresponded to zooarchaeological and ethnographic evidence for local subsistence practices. Dog bones dating to between the 15th and 19th centuries, from coastal Labrador, Canada, carried a strong marine isotope signature as did dog furs collected during the early 20th century in Greenland, coastal Labrador, and Alaska. Dogs living among reindeer herders in early 20th century Siberia consumed terrestrial protein sources, while those on the Kamchatka Peninsula consumed terrestrial protein supplemented by limited quantities of salmon. Dog provisioning required considerable human labour and was an important structuring component of daily life in the Arctic. The final manuscript presents the first study of infant feeding practices among prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the Bering Sea coast. This study used stable isotope analysis of bulk collagen from dentine increments to show that breastfeeding and weaning practices varied considerably across the sampled group. The novel isotopic analysis of amino acids from dentine indicated that amino acids, such as lysine, that are routed directly from collagen, show promise for distinguishing between the dual influences of dietary change and systemic stress on human nitrogen isotope values.