Stable isotope analysis of Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) from archaeological sites in Mangareva (French Polynesia): The use of commensal species for understanding human activity and ecosystem change

Jillian A. Swift, Melanie J. Miller and Patrick V. Kirch

Environmental Archaeology, 2017, vol. 22, issue 3, 283-297

Abstract: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was applied to archaeological specimens of the commensal Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) to investigate nutrient fluxes in prehistoric socio-ecosystems on Mangareva (Gambier Islands) and their implications for anthropogenic environmental change. The Pacific rat – ubiquitous in Polynesian archaeological sites – is characterised by low dietary selectivity and a limited home range, making it an ideal candidate for assessing changes in island food webs. Temporal trends in diet-derived bone collagen δ13C and δ15N values are assessed from three sites: The Onemea Site, Taravai Island (TAR-6), Nenega-iti Rockshelter, Agakauitai Island (AGA-3) and Kitchen Cave Rockshelter, Kamaka Island (KAM-1). An overall trend of decreasing δ15N values in rat bone collagen over time reflects archipelago-wide changes to island socio-ecosystems most likely resulting from seabird population declines. Differences in site function and human activity may have also influenced local rat dietary patterns. Stable isotope analysis of the Pacific rat provides a low-impact line of evidence towards the reconstruction of human-centred food webs and the flow of nutrients within island socio-ecosystems.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14614103.2016.1216933 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:yenvxx:v:22:y:2017:i:3:p:283-297

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/yenv20

DOI: 10.1080/14614103.2016.1216933

Access Statistics for this article

Environmental Archaeology is currently edited by Tim Mighall

More articles in Environmental Archaeology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().