Investigation of Middle Woodland population movement in the midwestern United States using strontium isotopes
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: This research sought to compare levels of population movement in the Illinois and Ohio regions during the Middle Woodland period in Eastern North America. This was accomplished by subjecting 81 human remains at two Illinois sites (Utica Mounds and Albany Mounds) and one Ohio site (the Hopewell Mound Group) to strontium isotopic analysis in order to detect potential immigrants to the site, along with 38 faunal specimens to provide a baseline for comparison. Building on Bolnick and Smith’s (2007) mtDNA research, it was hypothesized that the Illinois sites would demonstrate higher levels of population movement than the Hopewell site. The results of the study did not support the hypothesis. Three potential immigrants were detected in Illinois, all from Albany Mounds, while seven potential immigrants were detected at the Hopewell Mound Group. No potential immigrants were detected at Utica Mounds. Selected samples were also subjected to light isotope analysis (δ13C and δ18O). δ13C analysis confirmed that the staple diet at all sites involved primarily C3 food sources, while the δ18O analysis failed to support the strontium data with regards to potential immigrants. This may suggest that δ18O analysis is not an appropriate technique to detect immigration in this region.
Author: Dana Elizabeth Beehr
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2519899936