Announcing the Final Examination of Ms. Alexandria R. Brock for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology
Date: April 5, 2019
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Room: HPH 409M
Thesis title: “The Elite Meroitic Experience on Sai Island, Sudan: Using Stable Isotope Analysis to Identify Patterns Related to Sex and Age for the Interpretation of Social Identity”
The research conducted for this thesis utilized stable isotope analysis to reconstruct the diet of 53 individuals recovered from an elite Meroitic (300 BCE-350 CE) cemetery (site number 8.B.5A) located on Sai Island, Sudan, with a focus on adult age categories and biological sex, in order to understand intra-class variation in diet. This research was completed using stable carbon and nitrogen values from human bone collagen to gain a greater understanding of elite social organization, social practice, and gender roles in the Meroitic period by employing social identity theory and post-processual theory. The samples were placed into groups based on biological sex, median age, and assigned age categories (young, middle, and old adult) and then the isotopic values of each group were compared to determine if any differences could be identified. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values indicate that the elite class was relatively homogenous in their diet. Males, however, had the greatest range of carbon values (-18.05‰ to -12.66‰) and the highest carbon and nitrogen isotope values, while females had the greatest range of nitrogen values (11.05‰ to 14.59‰). For the age categories, the young adult group had the widest range of values (Carbon: -17.92‰ to -15.94‰; Nitrogen: 8.62‰ to 12.35‰) . The middle adults had the largest average δ13C values (15.85‰) and the young adults had the lowest average δ13C values (-16.96‰). The calculation of the percentage of C4 plants in the diet showed that the majority of females had a diet of approximately 25% C4 plants and 75% C3 plants. The majority of the males had a diet of 25-50% C4 plants and 75-50% C3 plants. These values may suggest that females were eating a more homogeneous diet based on lower status foods, which are primarily in the C3 plant category. The possibility of sex or age based residential patterns is also considered as well as the utility of strontium analysis in addressing this question. The different ranges of nitrogen and carbon isotope values in the male and female samples may indicate a much broader diet, and/or differential geographic origins and residency patterns between males and females.
Additionally, the isotopic values may indicate particular Meroitic and Nubian cultural practices such as the production and consumption of a C4 plant-based beer. The isotopic values aided in the construction of social identity profiles for each group assessed demonstrating that intra-class variation and cultural practices can be discerned from stable carbon and nitrogen values.
Outline of Studies:
Major: Anthropology
Educational Career:
B.A., 2016, University of North Texas
Committee in Charge:
Dr. Tosha Dupras, Chair
Dr. John Schultz, Co-Chair
Dr. Emily Zavodny
Approved for distribution by Tosha Dupras, Committee Chair, on March 22, 2019
The public is welcome to attend.
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