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Assessing the Scale of Prehistoric Human Impact in the Neotropics Using Stable Carbon Isotope Analyses of Lake Sediments: A Test Case From Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Chad S. Lane ,
Sally P. Horn ,
Zachary P. Taylor  and
Claudia I. Mora
Chad S. Lane*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996
Sally P. Horn
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996
Zachary P. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996
Claudia I. Mora
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996
*
1Current Address: Department of Geology, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI 54912
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Abstract

Analyses of pollen and other terrestrial microfossils in sediment profiles from neotropical lakes can complement and extend archaeological studies by documenting the timing of prehistoric human disturbances within watersheds. However, assessing the scale of prehistoric human impact from sedimentary microfossil assemblages alone is often difficult. We explore here the utility of combining stable carbon isotope (δ13C) analyses of lake sediments and isotopie mixing models to improve our ability to gauge the extent of prehistoric human disturbance recorded in sediment profiles. Our test case involves the analysis o f a sediment core from Laguna Bonillita on the central Caribbean slope of Costa Rica that spans approximately the last 2,700 calendar years. Variations in the δ13C values of the Laguna Bonillita sediments suggest that human population growth and environmental impacts in the watershed were at their maximum ~cal yr 300 B.C. This finding is in keeping with archaeological evidence of rapid regional population growth at this time but differs from initial interpretations of the sediment record that were based on pollen and charcoal analyses alone. We believe that the use of stable carbon isotope data from sediment profiles can improve estimates of the scale of prehistoric human impact and in doing so improve the contributions of paleoecological research to archaeology.

Los análises del polen y de los otros microfósiles terrestres en perfíles de sedimentos de lagos neotropicales pueden complementar y ampliar los estudios arqueológicos por documentar la cronología de perturbaciones humanas prehistóricos dentro de las cuencas de los lagos. Sin embargo, evaluando la escala del impacto humano prehistórico sólo de los conjuntos sedimentarios de microfósiles es a menudo difícil. Exploramos aquila utilidad de combinar el análisis de los isótopos estables del carbono (δ13C) de los sedimentos lacustres con modelos de mezclar isotópicos (isotope mixing models) para mejorar nuestra capacidad de estimar el grado de pertubación prehistórica humana registrada en perfiles de sedimento. Nuestro caso de prueba implica el análisis de un núcleo de sedimento de Laguna Bonillita en la vertiente Caribe central de Costa Rica que atreviesa aproximadamente los últimos 2,700 años calibrados. Las variaciones en los valores δ13C de los sedimentos de Laguna Bonillita sugieren que el crecimiento demográfico humano y los impactos ambientales en la cuenca estuvieran en su máximo aproximadamente 300 años calibrados a.C. Este hallazgo concuerda con la evidencia arqueológica del crecimiento demográfico regional rápido en este tiempo, pero se diferencia de interpretaciones iniciales del registro de sedimento que estaban basadas únicamentes en los análisis de polen y carbón. Creemos que el uso de datos de isótopos estables de carbono en perfiles de sedimento puede mejorar estimaciones de la escala del impacto humano prehistórico, y en hacer así mejore las contribuciones de la investigación paleoecológica a la arqueología.

Type
Part 1: Themed Section on Tehnology Approaches
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 120 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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