9317579 O'Connell Under the direction of Drs. James O'Connell and Thomas Stafford, Ms. Joan Coltrain will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will determine the carbon isotopic ratios of amino acids extracted from the bone collagen of seven Native American skeletons. All are well dated and derive from secure archaeological contexts. For 6, it is known whether or not corn formed part of the diet and these will serve as partial controls. The seventh is an unknown of archaeological interest. For some time paleoanthropologists have realized that the diet of an individual is reflected in the chemical composition of the skeleton and this archaeological tool has been used to great advantage. Attention has focussed on the introduction of corn into prehistoric Native American diet in part because it is amenable to such analysis but also because archaeologists have postulated that the growth of complexity in such societies may be directly tied to corn cultivation. In the Midwest, where corn has a distinctive carbon isotope signature this approach has worked relatively well. In the drier West however other plants also have cornlike carbon isotope ratios and the procedure has proven more difficult to apply. Ms. Coltrain will deal with this by analyzing the isotopic ratios of individual amino acids rather than use bulk collagen as is normally done. She believes that on this micro-level it should be possible to a pattern which is unique to corn. This research is important for several reasons. The technique being developed should be useable in a wide range or archaeological situations. It will also shed new light on the prehistory of the U.S. West and contribute to the training of a promising young scientist. ***
