Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Cod Otoliths Used to Reveal Seasonality of Fishing at Late Mesolithic Sites in Denmark

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12480468
AutoresKenneth Ritchie (0000-0001-5952-6689, autor de correspondencia), Arild Folkvord (0000-0002-4763-0590, University of Bergen), Anne Karin Hufthammer (0000-0002-1570-9667, University of Bergen)
Año2013
Número22
Páginas95-104
Fecha de publicación2013-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaArchaeofauna (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1132-6891
EditorialServicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.15366/archaeofauna2013.22.007
OpenAlexW126646600
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas6

Estimation of fish season of capture is fundamental to the study of mobility and resource exploitation patterns of ancient populations that relied heavily on piscine resources. In this study, we examined the contribution of a new isotopic method to further our ability to reconstruct the seasonality of ancient fisheries. Seven cod (Gadus morhua) sagittal otoliths were selected as a sample from two Late Mesolithic (Ertebølle) sites in Denmark (Asnæs Havnemark and Fårevejle) to examine cyclical patterns in relative water temperatures estimated by the ratio of oxygen stable isotopes. Our study demonstrated that isotopic analysis of sagittal otoliths has great potential for revealing these patterns and showing when fish were caught. Results indicated that fishing activity occurred during more periods of the year than had been previously estimated from the presence of migratory fishes in the assemblages. In all, our study suggests that fishing played a larger role in the annual subsistence cycle of Ertebølle groups than had been previously acknowledged

Art · Biology · Fish · Fishery · Fishing · Gadus · Geography · Humanities · Perciformes · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Isotope Analysis in Ecology