Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorVan der Merwe, Nikolaas Jen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSealy, Judith Cen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-02T09:07:32Z
dc.date.available2016-11-02T09:07:32Z
dc.date.issued1984en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: pages 190-203.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis thesis consists of a stable carbon isotopic assessment of the diets of the Holocene human inhabitants of the southwestern Cape, South Africa. Samples of the foods these people ate were collected from each of the four major physiographic zones in the area, and their ¹³C/¹²C ratios measured. A total of more than 200 such analyses enabled the estimation of the average δ¹³C values of prehistoric human diets in each zone. This information is used to interpret δ¹³C measurements on a series of archaeological human skeletons. The results are consistent with a model of prehistoric subsistence behaviour in which people living at the coast made intensive use of marine food resources throughout the Holocene, consuming such a large proportion of these foods that they must have spent much, if not all of their time at the coast. Inland skeletons reflect an almost entirely terrestrial diet. These results contradict hypotheses about seasonal population movements between the coast and the interior generated from excavated archaeological material. Considerable changes in many of our current views of the Late Stone Age of the south-western Cape will have to be made in order to accommodate these data.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationSealy, J. C. (1984). <i>Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Archaeology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22414en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSealy, Judith C. <i>"Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Archaeology, 1984. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22414en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSealy, J. 1984. Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Sealy, Judith C AB - This thesis consists of a stable carbon isotopic assessment of the diets of the Holocene human inhabitants of the southwestern Cape, South Africa. Samples of the foods these people ate were collected from each of the four major physiographic zones in the area, and their ¹³C/¹²C ratios measured. A total of more than 200 such analyses enabled the estimation of the average δ¹³C values of prehistoric human diets in each zone. This information is used to interpret δ¹³C measurements on a series of archaeological human skeletons. The results are consistent with a model of prehistoric subsistence behaviour in which people living at the coast made intensive use of marine food resources throughout the Holocene, consuming such a large proportion of these foods that they must have spent much, if not all of their time at the coast. Inland skeletons reflect an almost entirely terrestrial diet. These results contradict hypotheses about seasonal population movements between the coast and the interior generated from excavated archaeological material. Considerable changes in many of our current views of the Late Stone Age of the south-western Cape will have to be made in order to accommodate these data. DA - 1984 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1984 T1 - Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa TI - Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22414 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22414
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSealy JC. Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Archaeology, 1984 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22414en_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.subject.otherPrehistoric peoples - South Africa - Western Cape - Fooden_ZA
dc.titleStable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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