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This exploratory study proposes an original intra‐life history investigation through sequential analysis of the isotopic composition of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur (CNS) on both primary and secondary dentin of a tooth (M1). We focus on an elderly woman from Longobard Italy (6th to 8th c. CE), who showed an unprecedented case of cranial surgery, presented in a companion paper by Micarelli and colleagues. Sequential stable CNS isotope composition of first molar dentin collagen allows us to infer diet, mobility, health, and physiological stress between approximately 3 months after birth to 9.5 years old (primary dentin) and between early adulthood until death (secondary dentin). Isotopic results on primary dentin highlight the following: (i) a long weaning period (ending at approximately 4 years), followed by (ii) a specific diet, including the contribution of C4 crops in early childhood (approximately 5.5 years), possibly concomitant with mobility. While secondary dentin shows a generally homogeneous diet during adulthood, the longitudinal analysis provided information on specific stresses that likely occurred in periods of difficult health conditions. This work emphasizes the importance of measuring complete dentin sequences (including secondary when present) for isotopic analysis to broaden intra‐life histories in ancient populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The native groups of Patagonia have relied on a hunter-gatherer economy well after the first Europeans and North Americans reached this part of the world. The large exploitation of marine mammals (i.e., seals) by such allochthonous groups has had a strong impact on the local ecology in a way that might have forced the natives to adjust their subsistence strategies. Similarly, the introduction of new foods might have changed local diet. These are the premises of our isotopic-based analysis. There is a large set of paleonutritional investigations through isotopic analysis on Fuegians groups, however a systematic exploration of food practices across time in relation to possible pre- and post-contact changes is still lacking. In this paper we investigate dietary variation in hunter-gatherer groups of Tierra del Fuego in a diachronic perspective, through measuring the isotopic ratio of carbon (∂13C) and nitrogen (∂15N) in the bone collagen of human and a selection of terrestrial and marine animal samples. The data obtained reveal an unexpected isotopic uniformity across prehistoric and recent groups, with little variation in both carbon and nitrogen mean values, which we interpret as the possible evidence of resilience among these groups and persistence of subsistence strategies, allowing inferences on the dramatic contraction (and extinction) of Fuegian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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