ABSTRACT
For this study, we applied a combined bioarchaeological approach, utilizing dental anthropological and stable isotopic analyses to assess long-term changes in subsistence patterns on prehistoric Aruba. Based on the traditional understanding of food-ways during the Archaic and Ceramic Age occupations of the island, it was expected that the dental and isotopic analyses would reflect differences in dietary practices between the two groups. We compared rates of dental pathology and dental wear, enamel carbon isotopes, and dentine collagen carbon and nitrogen isotopes between Archaic and Ceramic Age individuals. These comparisons between individuals from the Archaic Age sites of Canashito and Malmok and the Ceramic Age (Dabajuroid) sites of Santa Cruz, Savaneta, and Tanki Flip do not reveal distinct differences between the two groups. In fact, the combined results of our study are suggestive of continuity in diet over time. These results concur with recent paleobotanical evidence that next to wild plant foods, starchy food crops also contributed to Archaic Aruban diets. Our study highlights the need for further investigation of Aruban food-ways, in particular larger datasets of apatite (enamel and bone) versus collagen (dentine and bone) stable isotope result, which reflect different aspects of diet (whole diet versus protein, respectively), combined with analysis of dental pathology, wear, and paleobotanical research.
