Late Cahokian subsistence and health: Stable isotope and dental evidence

Human biological analysis of health and subsistence can provide important new insights on changing social and political patterns during the late Mississippian period in the American Bottom. Stable isotope analysis indicates dietary differences between two contemporaneous late Mississippian skeletal samples: Corbin Mounds and East St. Louis Stone Quarry (ESLSQ). While these two populations consumed comparable amounts of maize and protein, differences in the isotopic signature of the protein component of the diet suggests variation in the source of protein between these two sites. Sex differences in diet were identified within the ESLSQ sample, suggesting males in this sample consumed a C4-enriched protein source not regularly consumed by ESLSQ females. Dental pathologies are viewed in light of these regional- and sex-related differences in diet. Human biological studies support a view of Cahokia as comprised of diverse subpopulations whose differing lifestyles are reflected in their health and subsistence practices.