THE LATE WOODLAND DIET ON NANTUCKET ISLAND AND THE PROBLEM OF MAIZE IN COASTAL NEW-ENGLAND

Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of (1) bone collagen from six buria ls of the Late Woodland Period at Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and (2) a wide range of potential dietary materials provide data for eval uating coastal diets. Archaeological and historical data give evidence for the availability and use of dietary items. The bases of the food chains and trophic levels define the possible food groups: terrestrial C-3 and C-4 plants and their consumers, marine C-3 or C-4-like plants and their consumers, and marine carnivores. From these data, computer analysis of multiple linear mixing equations relating isotope ratios of human bone collagen to those of dietary food groups shows allowable ranges of these food groups in the diet. The results argue for a diet of 40-65 percent oceanic animals, with the rest consisting of substan tial amounts of animals from salt marsh and eelgrass meadows or of mai ze, and minor amounts of C-3 plants and their consumers.