A D Somerville
Biographic Data
| ID | 13393 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A D Somerville |
| GIVEN NAMES | A D |
| FAMILY NAME | Somerville |
| SIGNATURE | SOMERVILLE A D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California San Diego |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4839-2739 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 151 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Isotopic Evidence of Diet and Mobility From the Megalithic Burials of the Rego da Murta Dolmens (Portugal)
This study uses stable and radiogenic isotopic data from Chalcolithic ( c. 3000–1900 bc ) humans and animals recovered from the Rego da Murta dolmens (Alvaiázere, Portugal) to understand dietary and mobility patterns in the populations using these monuments. The results suggest diets based primarily on C 3 plants and terrestrial animals, with some possible variation in protein intake by age or status. Analyses of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values identify two …
Diet, Status, and incipient social Inequality
How different were the lives of elites and commoners in early complex societies? This paper examines this question using data from three fisher-hunter-gatherer sites in southern California. Using shell bead counts from burials as proxies for social status and previously published human stable isotope values as indicators of dietary practices, we examine the relationship between diet and status across a period of major sociopolitical change. Our r…
Assessing the use of stable isotope values from deer antlers as proxies for seasonal environmental variation
Introduction We assess the feasibility of white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) antlers to serve as archives of information on paleoseasonality by analyzing stable isotope values from four modern white-tailed deer collected in central Iowa, USA. Because antlers develop from early spring to early fall, they may serve as an archive for intra-annual seasonal variations and provide snapshots of past climatic and environmental conditions. Metho…
Monte Alban and Teotihuacan connections
Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Analysis of Faunal Remains from a Western Iowa Oneota Complex Site
This study provides evidence of the value of using isotopic data from faunal remains to understand human diet and mobility patterns when human remains are not available for examination. In this research, bone apatite, bone collagen, and enamel apatite from fauna recovered from recent excavations of the Dixon site (13WD8), an Oneota complex site (AD 1300–1400) in western Iowa, were analyzed for δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, and 87Sr/86Sr values. The goals of …
New AMS Radiocarbon Ages from the Preceramic Levels of Coxcatlan Cave, Puebla, Mexico
New AMS Radiocarbon Ages from the Preceramic Levels of Coxcatlan Cave, Puebla, Mexico
Archaeological studies at Coxcatlan Cave in the Tehuacan Valley of southern Puebla, Mexico, have been instrumental to the development of the chronology for the region and for our understanding of the origins of food production in the Americas. This article refines the Preceramic chronology of the Tehuacan Valley by presenting 14 new accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages from faunal bone samples uncovered from early depositional lev…
Investigating pre-Hispanic scarlet macaw origins through radiogenic strontium isotope analysis at Paquimé in Chihuahua, Mexico
Diet and residential mobility within the Late Classic elite Maya households of Chinikiha, Chiapas, Mexico
Rabbit bone stable isotope values distinguish desert ecoregions of North America
Leporid management and specialized food production at Teotihuacan
Feeding Teotihuacan
Exploring Patterns and Pathways of Dietary Change
Interregional encounters frequently result in dietary, health, and cultural changes for participating groups. This paper investigates the patterns and pathways of dietary change among the Mulia Dani of highland western New Guinea, who at the time of data collection had been in contact with Christian missionaries and the global food market for 29 years. We explore three lines of data: food preferences (from survey responses), oral health (indicate…
Climate Change and Subsistence Exchange in Southern California
A popular model for social evolution in the Santa Barbara Channel region holds that, during times of resource stress, islanders would trade with mainlanders for plant foods in order to supplement island diets. Recently, western sea-purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum) has been suggested as a primary food product involved in this exchange. This report presents new caloric values forSesuvium verrucosumand other plant foods that have been indicated as pos…
Environmental variables across Pan troglodytes study sites correspond with the carbon, but not the nitrogen, stable isotope ratios of chimpanzee hair
Diet influences the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen (δ(13) C and δ(15) N values) in animal tissue; but here we explore the influences of particular aspects of the local environment on those values in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In this article we present new δ(13) C and δ(15) N values in Gombe chimpanzees using hairs collected from night nests in 1989. Then, we explore the influence of environmental factors by comparing our Gombe …
Political alliance, residential mobility, and diet at the ancient Maya city of Pusilha, Belize
Diet and gender in the T iwanaku colonies
OBJECTIVES: Gender and other facets of social identity play important roles in the organization of complex societies. This study reconstructs dietary practices within the Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) Tiwanaku colonies in southern Peru to increase our knowledge of gendered patterns of consumption within this early expansive state. METHODS: We use stable isotope analysis of 43 human bone samples representing 14 females, 20 males, 8 juveniles, and 1…
Paleomobility in the Tiwanaku Diaspora
Paleomobility has been a key element in the study of the expansion of ancient states and empires, including the Tiwanaku polity of the South Central Andes (AD 500–1000). We present radiogenic strontium and oxygen isotope data from human burials from three cemeteries in the Tiwanaku‐affiliated Middle Horizon archaeological site complex of Rio Muerto in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru. At Rio Muerto, archaeological human enamel and bone values…
Applying new approaches to modeling diet and status
The Importance of Political Leadership in Achieving a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
The dramatic injection of energy into the debate over the importance of nuclear disarmament in recent years presents a historic opportunity to make the world safer from the unacceptable risks posed by its most powerful weapons. We cannot allow this moment to pass. The positive steps taken by President Obama have added crucial momentum to the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda, but we cannot rely on him alone. No one leader, regardless of th…
Isotopic investigation of pre-Hispanic macaw breeding in Northwest Mexico
Applying new approaches to modeling diet and status
Paleomobility in the Tiwanaku Diaspora
Paleomobility has been a key element in the study of the expansion of ancient states and empires, including the Tiwanaku polity of the South Central Andes (AD 500–1000). We present radiogenic strontium and oxygen isotope data from human burials from three cemeteries in the Tiwanaku‐affiliated Middle Horizon archaeological site complex of Rio Muerto in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru. At Rio Muerto, archaeological human enamel and bone values…
Political alliance, residential mobility, and diet at the ancient Maya city of Pusilha, Belize
Diet and gender in the T iwanaku colonies
OBJECTIVES: Gender and other facets of social identity play important roles in the organization of complex societies. This study reconstructs dietary practices within the Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) Tiwanaku colonies in southern Peru to increase our knowledge of gendered patterns of consumption within this early expansive state. METHODS: We use stable isotope analysis of 43 human bone samples representing 14 females, 20 males, 8 juveniles, and 1…
Leporid management and specialized food production at Teotihuacan
Feeding Teotihuacan
Rabbit bone stable isotope values distinguish desert ecoregions of North America
Diet, Status, and incipient social Inequality
How different were the lives of elites and commoners in early complex societies? This paper examines this question using data from three fisher-hunter-gatherer sites in southern California. Using shell bead counts from burials as proxies for social status and previously published human stable isotope values as indicators of dietary practices, we examine the relationship between diet and status across a period of major sociopolitical change. Our r…
New AMS Radiocarbon Ages from the Preceramic Levels of Coxcatlan Cave, Puebla, Mexico
Archaeological studies at Coxcatlan Cave in the Tehuacan Valley of southern Puebla, Mexico, have been instrumental to the development of the chronology for the region and for our understanding of the origins of food production in the Americas. This article refines the Preceramic chronology of the Tehuacan Valley by presenting 14 new accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages from faunal bone samples uncovered from early depositional lev…
Diet and residential mobility within the Late Classic elite Maya households of Chinikiha, Chiapas, Mexico
Investigating pre-Hispanic scarlet macaw origins through radiogenic strontium isotope analysis at Paquimé in Chihuahua, Mexico
Monte Alban and Teotihuacan connections
Exploring Patterns and Pathways of Dietary Change
Interregional encounters frequently result in dietary, health, and cultural changes for participating groups. This paper investigates the patterns and pathways of dietary change among the Mulia Dani of highland western New Guinea, who at the time of data collection had been in contact with Christian missionaries and the global food market for 29 years. We explore three lines of data: food preferences (from survey responses), oral health (indicate…
Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Analysis of Faunal Remains from a Western Iowa Oneota Complex Site
This study provides evidence of the value of using isotopic data from faunal remains to understand human diet and mobility patterns when human remains are not available for examination. In this research, bone apatite, bone collagen, and enamel apatite from fauna recovered from recent excavations of the Dixon site (13WD8), an Oneota complex site (AD 1300–1400) in western Iowa, were analyzed for δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, and 87Sr/86Sr values. The goals of …
Isotopic investigation of pre-Hispanic macaw breeding in Northwest Mexico
The Importance of Political Leadership in Achieving a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
The dramatic injection of energy into the debate over the importance of nuclear disarmament in recent years presents a historic opportunity to make the world safer from the unacceptable risks posed by its most powerful weapons. We cannot allow this moment to pass. The positive steps taken by President Obama have added crucial momentum to the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda, but we cannot rely on him alone. No one leader, regardless of th…
Applying new approaches to modeling diet and status
Paleomobility in the Tiwanaku Diaspora
Paleomobility has been a key element in the study of the expansion of ancient states and empires, including the Tiwanaku polity of the South Central Andes (AD 500–1000). We present radiogenic strontium and oxygen isotope data from human burials from three cemeteries in the Tiwanaku‐affiliated Middle Horizon archaeological site complex of Rio Muerto in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru. At Rio Muerto, archaeological human enamel and bone values…
Diet and gender in the T iwanaku colonies
OBJECTIVES: Gender and other facets of social identity play important roles in the organization of complex societies. This study reconstructs dietary practices within the Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) Tiwanaku colonies in southern Peru to increase our knowledge of gendered patterns of consumption within this early expansive state. METHODS: We use stable isotope analysis of 43 human bone samples representing 14 females, 20 males, 8 juveniles, and 1…
Environmental variables across Pan troglodytes study sites correspond with the carbon, but not the nitrogen, stable isotope ratios of chimpanzee hair
Diet influences the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen (δ(13) C and δ(15) N values) in animal tissue; but here we explore the influences of particular aspects of the local environment on those values in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In this article we present new δ(13) C and δ(15) N values in Gombe chimpanzees using hairs collected from night nests in 1989. Then, we explore the influence of environmental factors by comparing our Gombe …
Political alliance, residential mobility, and diet at the ancient Maya city of Pusilha, Belize
Leporid management and specialized food production at Teotihuacan
Feeding Teotihuacan
Exploring Patterns and Pathways of Dietary Change
Interregional encounters frequently result in dietary, health, and cultural changes for participating groups. This paper investigates the patterns and pathways of dietary change among the Mulia Dani of highland western New Guinea, who at the time of data collection had been in contact with Christian missionaries and the global food market for 29 years. We explore three lines of data: food preferences (from survey responses), oral health (indicate…
Climate Change and Subsistence Exchange in Southern California
A popular model for social evolution in the Santa Barbara Channel region holds that, during times of resource stress, islanders would trade with mainlanders for plant foods in order to supplement island diets. Recently, western sea-purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum) has been suggested as a primary food product involved in this exchange. This report presents new caloric values forSesuvium verrucosumand other plant foods that have been indicated as pos…
Rabbit bone stable isotope values distinguish desert ecoregions of North America
Diet and residential mobility within the Late Classic elite Maya households of Chinikiha, Chiapas, Mexico
Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Analysis of Faunal Remains from a Western Iowa Oneota Complex Site
This study provides evidence of the value of using isotopic data from faunal remains to understand human diet and mobility patterns when human remains are not available for examination. In this research, bone apatite, bone collagen, and enamel apatite from fauna recovered from recent excavations of the Dixon site (13WD8), an Oneota complex site (AD 1300–1400) in western Iowa, were analyzed for δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, and 87Sr/86Sr values. The goals of …
New AMS Radiocarbon Ages from the Preceramic Levels of Coxcatlan Cave, Puebla, Mexico
New AMS Radiocarbon Ages from the Preceramic Levels of Coxcatlan Cave, Puebla, Mexico
Archaeological studies at Coxcatlan Cave in the Tehuacan Valley of southern Puebla, Mexico, have been instrumental to the development of the chronology for the region and for our understanding of the origins of food production in the Americas. This article refines the Preceramic chronology of the Tehuacan Valley by presenting 14 new accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages from faunal bone samples uncovered from early depositional lev…
Investigating pre-Hispanic scarlet macaw origins through radiogenic strontium isotope analysis at Paquimé in Chihuahua, Mexico
Monte Alban and Teotihuacan connections
Assessing the use of stable isotope values from deer antlers as proxies for seasonal environmental variation
Introduction We assess the feasibility of white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) antlers to serve as archives of information on paleoseasonality by analyzing stable isotope values from four modern white-tailed deer collected in central Iowa, USA. Because antlers develop from early spring to early fall, they may serve as an archive for intra-annual seasonal variations and provide snapshots of past climatic and environmental conditions. Metho…
Diet, Status, and incipient social Inequality
How different were the lives of elites and commoners in early complex societies? This paper examines this question using data from three fisher-hunter-gatherer sites in southern California. Using shell bead counts from burials as proxies for social status and previously published human stable isotope values as indicators of dietary practices, we examine the relationship between diet and status across a period of major sociopolitical change. Our r…
Isotopic Evidence of Diet and Mobility From the Megalithic Burials of the Rego da Murta Dolmens (Portugal)
This study uses stable and radiogenic isotopic data from Chalcolithic ( c. 3000–1900 bc ) humans and animals recovered from the Rego da Murta dolmens (Alvaiázere, Portugal) to understand dietary and mobility patterns in the populations using these monuments. The results suggest diets based primarily on C 3 plants and terrestrial animals, with some possible variation in protein intake by age or status. Analyses of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values identify two …
Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (17 works) · Geography (16 works) · Archaeology (14 works) · Biology (12 works) · Ecology (12 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (11 works) · Isotope Analysis in Ecology (9 works) · Isotope analysis (8 works) · Stable isotope ratio (7 works) · Sociology (6 works)