Isotopic evidence of human mobility and diet in a prehistoric/protohistoric Fijian coastal environment (c. 750-150 BP).
OBJECTIVE
Bourewa, on the southwest coast of Viti Levu in Fiji, is a multi-period site that contained burials dated to the later Vuda Phase (750-150 BP), a period of climatic fluctuations that potentially impacted the availability of food resources. We aim to investigate diet and movement at this site during a time of possible ecological pressure and political change.


METHODS
We analyzed δ(13) C, δ(15) N, and (87) Sr/(86) Sr of these Vuda Phase individuals (n = 25) interred at the site. By analyzing dentin and bone, both childhood diet and the diet within the past few years of adults' lives were examined.


RESULTS
The paleodietary results suggested that adult diets consisted largely of low trophic level marine organisms. Dentin and bone isotopic values differed significantly: childhood diet involved consumption of more higher trophic level terrestrial foods. Most individuals displayed (87) Sr/(86) Sr ratios expected of people living along a marine coastline. However, a few individuals displayed (87) Sr/(86) Sr ratios and paleodietary values (δ(13) Cdentin , δ(15) Ndentin ) suggestive of living further inland or consuming a more terrestrial-based childhood diet.


CONCLUSIONS
The results are compared with past studies of sites from Fiji and nearby archipelagoes, placing our interpretations into a wider regional context. The Bourewa community appears to have consumed more low trophic level marine foods than any nearby site, possibly because terrestrial foods were more difficult to acquire. Interpreting the childhood diet is challenging due to the paucity of ethnohistoric literature on Fijian childhood; small meals outside of communal mealtimes or feeding children terrestrial animal protein as a means of cultural buffering are potential explanations.
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9012, New Zealand.
Christina
C
Stantis
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9012, New Zealand.
Hallie R
HR
Buckley
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9012, New Zealand.
Rebecca L
RL
Kinaston
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9012, New Zealand.
Patrick D
PD
Nunn
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9012, New Zealand.
Klervia
K
Jaouen
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9012, New Zealand.
Michael P
MP
Richards
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry; D004032:Diet / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D005367:Fiji; D049690:History, Ancient; D063426:Human Migration / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D014070:Tooth / Q000737:chemistry; D055815:Young Adult
D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes
87Sr/86Sr; Fiji; carbon isotope analysis; childhood diet; nitrogen isotope analysis