The dietary regime of Equus capensis from the Middle Pleistocene of South Africa is investigated by mesowear analysis. Results indicate that the mesowear signature of this species resembles that of two extant mixed feeders, the Grant's Gazelle (Gazella granti) and the Thomson's Gazelle (Gazella thomsoni), suggesting a mixed feeding dietary strategy for E. capensis. The mesowear signature of a contemporaneous population of Equus mosbachensis from Europe (Arago, France) is also determined for comparative purposes and has a typical grazing signature. In general, all extant species of Equus are believed to be almost exclusively grazers. However, a considerable degree of dietary flexibility is recently reported. The dietary signal of E. capensis is considered to be the result of feeding on the unique fynbos vegetation, which was beginning to establish itself at this time in southwestern South Africa. Grasses are a minor component of this floral kingdom. Our findings thus provide further evidence for the unexpected flexibility in feeding strategies of Equus, the most widely distributed equid taxon in the Quaternary. They highlight the potential use of the attrition"abrasion wear equilibrium as a habitat indicator, by mirroring the availability of food items in mammalian herbivore ecosystems.

We investigated 17 abandoned Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colonies in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica, in summer 2002/03. Forty radiocarbon dates on penguin bones and eggshells from 13 of these sites indicate a near continuous occupation by breeding penguins in this region for over 9000 years. These dates refine the recent geological record in this region and indicate that deglaciation of the northern islands occurred much earlier than previously suggested. Dietary remains from these sites include at least 23 taxa of cephalopods and teleost fish. Quantification of these remains indicates significant fluctuations in the relative abundance of two of the more common major prey taxa. The Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum Boulenger) was the most common teleost prey during all time periods represented by the ages of the sites, but preservational factors may explain a gradual decrease in the remains of this species in increasingly older sites. The most common cephalopod in the sediments was the squid, Psychroteuthis glacialis Thiele, which occurred in low numbers in most sites except one (Site 75). An unusually high number of squid beaks preserved in Site 75, dating to approximately 5700–6100 cal. yr BP, does not correlate with a decrease in fish prey at that time. The high number of abandoned penguin colonies (> 200) in the Windmill Islands may be due to population cycles in the past in association with low nest-site fidelity and movement by breeding penguins to new sites within this region.

The article presents new results of stable isotope analyses made on animal and human bones from the Mesolithic–early Neolithic sites of Lepenski Vir and Vlasac in the Danube Gorges of the Balkans. It reconstructs the food web for the region during these periods on the basis of stable isotope analyses of mammal and fish species found at Vlasac. These results are compared to measurements made on human burials from the two sites. In the light of these new results, the article also discusses interpretations provided by previous isotopic studies of this material. It concludes that great care is required in the interpretation of stable isotope results due to inherent methodological complexities of this type of analysis, and suggests that it is also necessary to integrate stable isotope results with information based on the examination of faunal remains and the archaeological context of analysed burials when making inferences about palaeodietary patterns.

Six abandoned colonies of Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) were excavated near Palmer Station, Anvers Island, Antarctic Peninsula, to investigate the occupation history of this species. Sediments from each site yielded abundant fish bones and otoliths and squid beaks that represent prey remains deposited by penguins during the nesting period. Radiocarbon analyses indicate that colony occupation began prior to the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1500–1850 AD), with the oldest site dating to 644 yrs before present (BP; average reservoir-corrected date with Is range, 603–679 yr BP). Food remains indicate that the non-euphausiid prey of penguins consisted primarily of a mesopelagic squid (Psychroteuthis glacialis) and two species of fish (Pleuragramma antarcticun and Electrona antarctica). The relative abundance of the first two prey taxa varied significantly among six sites (X2>34.6; df = 10; P <0.001) with colonies dating prior to the LIA having greater representation of squid, and less of silverfish, than those occupied during the LIA. Data from control excavations at three modern colonies indicate a diet similar to that of the pre-LIA sites. These results suggest that Adélie penguins may have changed their diet in response to warming and cooling cycles in the past. In addition, only Adélie penguins are known to have nested in the Palmer Station area prior to the l950s; gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) and chinstrap (P. antarctica) penguins now breeding in this region have expanded their ranges southward in the Peninsula within the past 50 yrs, in correlation with pronounced regional warming.

Models of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain in recent years have tended to downplay the role of changes in the subsistence economy, emphasizing a very gradual adoption of new domesticated resources. This view has been particularly pervasive for the west coast of Scotland, which in the context of Britain presents a relatively marginal environment for farming. In this article, we challenge this too-quickly emerging orthodoxy through the presentation and discussion of both new and previously published stable isotope data and AMS dates. The palaeodietary information, while limited, strongly suggests a very rapid and complete change in the subsistence economy coincident with the earliest manifestations of the Neolithic on the west coast of Scotland early in the fourth millennium cal. BC. Whatever explanation is invoked to account for the transition needs to engage with the isotopic data. The possibility of colonization at some level needs to be seriously reconsidered.

Continuing our focus on the Hebridean Mesolithic, this paper describes new dating on the human bone from Oronsay, showing that late Mesolithic occupation may coincide with the coming of the Neolithic.