Stable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorVan der Merwe, N Jen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSilberbauer, Francis Bruceen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-03-04T18:58:42Z
dc.date.available2015-03-04T18:58:42Z
dc.date.issued1979en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe research reported in this thesis involves the measurement of stable carbon isotope ratios in human bone collagen as a means of reconstructing prehistoric diets. The sample population includes 67 skeletons of hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and agriculturalists from the Holocene of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The aims of the thesis include the testing, through direct quantitative measurements, of the validity of archaeological conclusions about prehistoric human behaviour in the Eastern Cape. Secondly, the usefulness and applicability of the 13c tracer technique is demonstrated in what is arguable the most complex situation an archaeologist is likely to encounter. The natural environment included c3 and c4 plants, browsing and grazing ungulates, and a marine component - all subject to environmental change over the period under study - while the cultural environment included three different subsistence systems plus transition stages between them. A third, or subsidiary goal, was to test whether burial practices can be correlated with subsistence economies in this situation - that is, whether ritual and dietary behaviour formed part of some larger cultural whole such as "pastoralists" - in order to be able to assign individuals to socio-economic groups on the basis of burial pattern. The results of the laboratory analysis realize these goals with varying degrees of success and with important consequences for the archaeologist.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationSilberbauer, F. B. (1979). <i>Stable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Archaeology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12562en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSilberbauer, Francis Bruce. <i>"Stable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Archaeology, 1979. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12562en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSilberbauer, F. 1979. Stable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Silberbauer, Francis Bruce AB - The research reported in this thesis involves the measurement of stable carbon isotope ratios in human bone collagen as a means of reconstructing prehistoric diets. The sample population includes 67 skeletons of hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and agriculturalists from the Holocene of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The aims of the thesis include the testing, through direct quantitative measurements, of the validity of archaeological conclusions about prehistoric human behaviour in the Eastern Cape. Secondly, the usefulness and applicability of the 13c tracer technique is demonstrated in what is arguable the most complex situation an archaeologist is likely to encounter. The natural environment included c3 and c4 plants, browsing and grazing ungulates, and a marine component - all subject to environmental change over the period under study - while the cultural environment included three different subsistence systems plus transition stages between them. A third, or subsidiary goal, was to test whether burial practices can be correlated with subsistence economies in this situation - that is, whether ritual and dietary behaviour formed part of some larger cultural whole such as "pastoralists" - in order to be able to assign individuals to socio-economic groups on the basis of burial pattern. The results of the laboratory analysis realize these goals with varying degrees of success and with important consequences for the archaeologist. DA - 1979 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1979 T1 - Stable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa TI - Stable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12562 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12562
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSilberbauer FB. Stable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Archaeology, 1979 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12562en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Archaeologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherArchaeologyen_ZA
dc.titleStable carbon isotopes and prehistoric diets in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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