The First New Zealanders: Patterns of Diet and Mobility Revealed through Isotope Analysis

et al. (2013) The First New Zealanders: Patterns of Diet and Mobility Revealed through Isotope Analysis. PLoS ONE 8(5): e64580. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064580 The First New Zealanders: Patterns of Diet and Mobility Revealed through Isotope Analysis Rebecca L. Kinaston 0 Richard K. Walter 0 Chris Jacomb 0 Emma Brooks 0 Nancy Tayles 0 Sian E. Halcrow 0 Claudine Stirling 0 Malcolm Reid 0 Andrew R. Gray 0 Jean Spinks 0 Ben Shaw 0 Roger Fyfe 0 Hallie R. Buckley 0 John P. Hart, New York State Museum, United States of America 0 1 Department of Anatomy, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand , 2 Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand , 3 Southern Pacific Archaeological Research, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand , 4 Community Trust of Otago Centre for Trace Element Analysis, Department of Chemistry, University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand , 5 Department of Chemistry, University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand , 6 Department of Preventative and Social Medicine, University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand , 7 School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University , Canberra , Australia , 8 Canterbury Museum, Christchurch , New Zealand Direct evidence of the environmental impact of human colonization and subsequent human adaptational responses to new environments is extremely rare anywhere in the world. New Zealand was the last Polynesian island group to be settled by humans, who arrived around the end of the 13th century AD. Little is known about the nature of human adaptation and mobility during the initial phase of colonization. We report the results of the isotopic analysis (carbon, nitrogen and strontium) of the oldest prehistoric skeletons discovered in New Zealand to assess diet and migration patterns. The isotope data show that the culturally distinctive burials, Group 1, had similar diets and childhood origins, supporting the assertion that this group was distinct from Group 2/3 and may have been part of the initial colonizing population at the site. The Group 2/3 individuals displayed highly variable diets and likely lived in different regions of the country before their burial at Wairau Bar, supporting the archaeological evidence that people were highly mobile in New Zealand since the initial phase of human settlement. - Funding: University of Otago Research Grant (http://www.otago.ac.nz/research/otago004140.html); A grant-in-aid by the School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago (http://osms.otago.ac.nz/); The Mason Foundation (http://research-hub.griffith.edu.au/display/fosc_MASONG); Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund (http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/programmes/funds/marsden/) grant number UOO0711. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. A unique aspect of living on islands is that prehistory begins with a single discrete event: colonization. However, direct evidence of human colonization events and the subsequent behavioral responses of initial settlers are rarely observable in the archaeological record. This study aims to characterize the diet of the first New Zealanders from the analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in human bone collagen and to analyze human mobility through strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel. The Wairau Bar archaeological site, situated on the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand (fig. 1), is the best candidate to date for a founder-phase community in which these issues may be addressed [1]. Radiocarbon dates indicate that Wairau Bar was inhabited during the earliest settlement of New Zealand, around the end of the 13th century AD [24]. Covering at least 11 ha [5], Wairau Bar is best known for its numerous burials and rich assemblage of grave goods, which include artifacts of Archaic East Polynesian (AEP) type, such as distinctive jewelry, as well as the eggs and bones of the extinct flightless moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes). Davidson et al. ([6] pg 99) have described a tool from the Wairau Bar artifact assemblage made from a shell originating in tropical waters that they argue reinforces the view that Wairau Bar was a pioneering settlement in New Zealand. The exact origin(s) of New Zealands first colonists is unknown, although all lines of evidence point to a tropical East Polynesian (TEP) homeland [7,8]. Material culture affinities, demonstrated by the broad range of AEP artifact forms recovered from Wairau Bar, were the first line of evidence to suggest TEP origins [9]. Ancient DNA research focusing on commensal species, especially the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans), also indicates TEP as the likely source of the first colonists [10] and new mtDNA evidence from the Wairau Bar humans has shown that the Polynesian populations were not as genetically homogeneous as previously thought [11]. The Wairau Bar site is an important member of a group of sites of colonizing so-called moa-hunters who moved widely in search of large game (i.e. moa and seals) and new stone resources [12]. The early colonization period of New Zealand is known for the extreme predation of fragile endemic species, most famously the moa ([3] pg 426). Recent research focused on moa aDNA suggests that all eleven species were hunted to extinction within the first 100 years of human settlement [13,14]. Stone tool assemblages from colonization phase sites across the country provide evidence of the extremely rapid exploration and discovery of industrial resources. High levels of human mobility from the time of colonization are reflected in the long-distance movement of these resources [12]. Wairau Bar is a key example of this phenomenon, where one of the major industrial materials is obsidian sourced from Mayor Island located a 900 km sea voyage to the north [12]. High mobility during the colonizer phase of human prehistory in New Zealand is also reflected in the occupation of transient villages; sites that were likely inhabited for as little as a few decades or less [15,16]. The Wairau Bar burials provide the only large and well provenanced sample (n = 42) of prehistoric Maori skeletons, allowing questions of adaptation and mobility to be directly addressed through the biological remains of the people [17,18]. The burials from the site were found in three discrete areas [19]. The first group (burials 17) was found in the northwest area of the site, the second group (burials 811) was interred in an area southeast of Group 1, and the third group comprises the remaining burials, most of which were found in what Duff [9] called the southern burial ground (burials 1244) (fig. 2). Artifacts found with the burials include drilled moa eggs, whale tooth and imitation wha (...truncated)