Late Holocene dietary and cultural variability on the Xingu River, Amazon Basin: A stable isotopic approach

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271545
• Publication Date: 2022-08-03T17:23:51Z
• Authors: Letícia Morgana M...; Renato Kipnis; Mariane Pereira F...; Sara Marzo; Bianca Fiedler; Mary Lucas; Jana Ilgner; Hilton P. Silva; Patrick Roberts
• Keywords: Amazon basin

Although once considered a ‘counterfeit paradise’, the Amazon Basin is now region of increasing interest in discussions pre-colonial tropical land-use and social complexity. Archaeobotany, archaeozoology, remote sensing palaeoecology have revealed that, by Late Holocene, populations different parts were using various domesticated plants, modifying soils, building earthworks, even forming ‘Garden Cities’ along River its tributaries. However, there remains relatively limited understanding as to how diets, environmental management, structures varied across this vast area. Here, we apply stable isotope analysis human (n = 4 for collagen, n 17 tooth enamel), associated fauna 61 28 directly determine diets living Volta Grande do Rio Xingu, an important pre-Columbian cultural interactions, between 390 cal. years BC 1,675 AD. Our results highlight ongoing dietary focus on C 3 plants wild terrestrial aquatic resources sites time periods, with varying integration (i.e. maize). We argue when compared other datasets available from elsewhere Basin, our study highlights development regional adaptations local watercourses forest types.