Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria.

Malaria-causing protozoa of the genus Plasmodium have exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species1. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe1,2. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data from P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae from 16 countries spanning around 5,500 years of human history. We identified P. vivax and P. falciparum across geographically disparate regions of Eurasia from as early as the fourth and first millennia BCE, respectively; for P. vivax, this evidence pre-dates textual references by several millennia3. Genomic analysis supports distinct disease histories for P. falciparum and P. vivax in the Americas: similarities between now-eliminated European and peri-contact South American strains indicate that European colonizers were the source of American P. vivax, whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade probably introduced P. falciparum into the Americas. Our data underscore the role of cross-cultural contacts in the dissemination of malaria, laying the biomolecular foundation for future palaeo-epidemiological research into the impact of Plasmodium parasites on human history. Finally, our unexpected discovery of P. falciparum in the high-altitude Himalayas provides a rare case study in which individual mobility can be inferred from infection status, adding to our knowledge of cross-cultural connectivity in the region nearly three millennia ago.

Strontium (87 Sr/86 Sr) isotope analysis of the Namu skeletal assemblage: A study of past human migration on Taumako, a Polynesian Outlier in the eastern Solomon Islands.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess if inter-island mobility can be identified during the Namu period (ca. 1,510-1800 AD) using 87 Sr/86 Sr analysis of dental enamel for individuals from the Namu burial ground on Taumako Island in the eastern Solomon Island Chain. Historic evidence from this region suggests that females migrated between the Duff, Reef, and Santa Cruz islands for marriage purposes. We hypothesize that observable trends in migrational (87 Sr/86 Sr) and dietary (δ13 C and δ15 N) isotopes can reveal the relationship between demographic factors, social status, diet, and female mobility on Taumako. METHODS: This research analyzes enamel 87 Sr/86 Sr for 58 individuals in the Namu skeletal sample. The 87 Sr/86 Sr results were compared with published dietary isotope data (bone collagen and dentin δ13 C and δ15 N values) and type/number of grave goods to assess whether trends within the data may be related to sex, age, or burial wealth. RESULTS: The results show that females display significantly higher 87 Sr/86 Sr values compared to males. One young adult female displayed a 87 Sr/86 Sr value that was +2SD outside the mean for the sampled individuals. A linear mixed-effects model and principle components analysis of 87 Sr/86 Sr, δ13 C, and δ15 N values suggest that wealth, sex, and age-cohort membership have an observable influence on the isotopic variation for the Taumako population. CONCLUSION: We suggest that during the Namu period, Taumako was patrilocal and that some females migrated there from the nearby Santa Cruz and Reef islands. One female immigrated to Taumako from a geologically distinct region outside of the Duff, Reef, and Santa Cruz Island groups.

A multi-isotope, multi-tissue study of colonial origins and diet in New Zealand.

OBJECTIVES: Colonial period New Zealand was lauded as a land of plenty, where colonists could improve their station in life and secure a future for their families. Our understanding of colonial experience, however, is often shaped by historical records which communicate a state-sponsored version of history. This study aims to reconstruct the lives of settlers using isotopic evidence from the colonial skeletons themselves. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We use skeletal remains from recently excavated colonial sites in Otago (South Island, New Zealand) to illustrate the information that can be gleaned from the isotopic analysis of individuals. We use 87 Sr/86 Sr to identify European settlers, and δ13 C and δ15 N from collagen and hair keratin, as well as dental enamel carbonate δ13 C to trace dietary change over their life-courses. RESULTS: Strontium isotope analysis shows that all adults in our sample are non-local. Dietary isotopes show that while most individuals had relatively consistent childhood diet, one individual with more rural origins likely had seasonal use of resources during childhood. While some members of the population seem to have increased their meat intake in the new colony most do not have clear evidence for this. DISCUSSION: We show the diversity of human experience in first-generation New Zealanders both prior to emigration and in the new colony. Despite colonial propaganda claiming that circumstances in New Zealand were improved for all settlers, we have little evidence for this, aside from among individuals of potentially high status.

A bioarchaeological analysis of oral and physiological health on the south coast of New Guinea.

OBJECTIVES: The south coast of New Guinea has a complex prehistory known for its exchange systems that linked distinct cultural groups living along the coast, inland, and on offshore islands. Here we compare the palaeohealth of two relatively contemporaneous skeletal samples from the south coast of New Guinea (850-200 BP) that were from two ecologically different sites (one inland and one offshore island) and likely represent distinct cultural groups. We aim to elucidate health patterns that may provide information about the specific lifeways and quality of life of each community. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Oral conditions (caries, calculus, alveolar lesions, and antemortem tooth loss [AMTL]) were analyzed macroscopically to assess possible intra- and inter-population variation in oral and physiological health. The frequency of linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) was also used as a nonspecific indicator of stress to assess childhood health at each site. RESULTS: The inhabitants from the small offshore island of Motupore, thought to be associated with Austronesian-speaking Motu tribes, displayed different patterns of oral pathological conditions (more carious lesions on the tooth crown and calculus) and LEH (lower frequencies) compared with inland people residing at the site of Nebira. DISCUSSION: It is suggested that the causes for the variation in oral and physiological health were likely multifactorial and potentially associated with variables such as the ecological and geographical settings of the sites, cultural differences, infectious disease, differential fertility and, potentially, diet. This research provides previously unknown information about possible culturally-moderated practices that affected health in the past. Am J Phys Anthropol 160:414-426, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Isotopic evidence of human mobility and diet in a prehistoric/protohistoric Fijian coastal environment (c. 750-150 BP).

OBJECTIVES: Bourewa, on the southwest coast of Viti Levu in Fiji, is a multi-period site that contained burials dated to the later Vuda Phase (750-150 BP), a period of climatic fluctuations that potentially impacted the availability of food resources. We aim to investigate diet and movement at this site during a time of possible ecological pressure and political change. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed δ(13) C, δ(15) N, and (87) Sr/(86) Sr of these Vuda Phase individuals (n = 25) interred at the site. By analyzing dentin and bone, both childhood diet and the diet within the past few years of adults' lives were examined. RESULTS: The paleodietary results suggested that adult diets consisted largely of low trophic level marine organisms. Dentin and bone isotopic values differed significantly: childhood diet involved consumption of more higher trophic level terrestrial foods. Most individuals displayed (87) Sr/(86) Sr ratios expected of people living along a marine coastline. However, a few individuals displayed (87) Sr/(86) Sr ratios and paleodietary values (δ(13) Cdentin , δ(15) Ndentin ) suggestive of living further inland or consuming a more terrestrial-based childhood diet. DISCUSSION: The results are compared with past studies of sites from Fiji and nearby archipelagoes, placing our interpretations into a wider regional context. The Bourewa community appears to have consumed more low trophic level marine foods than any nearby site, possibly because terrestrial foods were more difficult to acquire. Interpreting the childhood diet is challenging due to the paucity of ethnohistoric literature on Fijian childhood; small meals outside of communal mealtimes or feeding children terrestrial animal protein as a means of cultural buffering are potential explanations.

Lapita diet and subsistence strategies on Watom Island, Papua New Guinea: New stable isotope evidence from humans and animals.

Stable isotope ratios (δ(13)C and δ(15)N) were analyzed from the bone collagen of individuals (n = 8) from a Lapita burial ground (ca. 2800-2350 BP) on Watom Island, located off northeast New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago. The aim of this study was to assess the diet and subsistence strategies of humans that lived during the later Lapita period in Near Oceania. To aid in the interpretation of the human diet we analyzed the stable isotope ratios of faunal material from the site (n = 27). We also aim to assess methods of animal husbandry at the site over time from an analysis of the stable isotope ratios (δ(13)C and δ(15)N) of pig bones (n = 22) from different temporal periods (Lapita, post-Lapita, and late prehistoric). The protein diet of the humans consisted of marine organisms from the inshore environment and some deep-water species, most likely marine turtle, in addition to higher trophic level terrestrial foods, likely pig and native animals (e.g., fruit bat, Cuscus and bandicoot). Although the sample sizes were small, females (n = 4) displayed more variable δ(13)C and δ(15)N values compared with males (n = 4), which may be associated with the movement of adult females to the island. The stable isotope analysis of the pig bones indicated that there were few differences between the diets of the pigs from the Lapita and post-Lapita layers, suggesting that the method of pig husbandry was similar between these two periods and was likely relatively free-range.

Brief communication: New method for measuring nitrogen isotopes in tooth dentine at high temporal resolution.

OBJECTIVES: Nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) are widely used to study human nursing and weaning ages. Conventional methods involve sampling 1-mm thick sections of tooth dentine-producing an averaging effect that integrates months of formation. We introduce a novel protocol for measuring δ15N by multicollector secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We sampled dentine δ15N on a weekly to monthly basis along the developmental axis in two first molars of healthy children from Australia and New Zealand (n = 217 measurements). Nitrogen isotope ratios were determined from measurements of CN- secondary molecular ions in ~35 µm spots. By relating spot position to enamel formation, we identified prenatal dentine, as well as sampling ages over more than 3 years. We also created calcium-normalized barium and strontium maps with laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. RESULTS: We found rapid postnatal δ15N increases of ~2‰-3‰, during which time the children were exclusively breastfed, followed by declines as the breastfeeding frequency decreased. After weaning, δ15N values remained stable for several months, coinciding with diets that did not include meat or cow's milk; values then varied by ~2‰ starting in the third year of life. Barium did not show an immediate postnatal increase, rising after a few months until ~1-1.5 years of age, and falling until or shortly after the cessation of suckling. Initial strontium trends varied but both individuals peaked months after weaning. DISCUSSION: Developmentally informed SIMS measurements of δ15N minimize time averaging and can be precisely related to an individual's early dietary history.

Extracting the truth through chemical analyses: Early life histories of Victorian-era dental patients in Aotearoa New Zealand.

OBJECTIVES: There are few bioarcheological analyses of life experiences in colonial period Aotearoa New Zealand, despite this being a time of major adaptation and social change. In our study, early life histories are constructed from multi-isotope and enamel peptide analysis of permanent first molars associated with Victorian era dental practices operating between AD 1881 and 1905 in Invercargill. Chemical analyses of the teeth provide insight into the childhood feeding practices, diet, and mobility of the people who had their teeth extracted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four permanent left mandibular first molars were analyzed from a cache of teeth discovered at the Leviathan Gift Depot site during excavations in 2019. The methods used were: (1) enamel peptide analysis to assess chromosomal sex; (2) bulk (δ13 Ccarbonate ) and incremental (δ13 Ccollagen and δ15 N) isotope analysis of dentin to assess childhood diet; and (3) strontium (87 Sr/86 Sr) and oxygen (δ18 O) isotope analysis of enamel to assess childhood residency. Two modern permanent first molars from known individuals were analyzed as controls. RESULTS: The archaeological teeth were from three chromosomal males and one female. The protein and whole diets were predominately based on C3 -plants and domestic animal products (meat and milk). A breastfeeding signal was only identified in one historic male. All individuals likely had childhood residences in Aotearoa. DISCUSSION: Unlike most bioarcheological studies that rely on the remains of the dead, the teeth analysed in this study were extracted from living people. We suggest that the dental patients were likely second or third generation colonists to Aotearoa, with fairly similar childhood diets. They were potentially lower-class individuals either living in, or passing through, the growing colonial center of Invercargill.

Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum.

The insular region of Wallacea has become a focal point for studying Pleistocene human ecological and cultural adaptations in island environments, however, little is understood about early burial traditions during the Pleistocene. Here we investigate maritime interactions and burial practices at Ratu Mali 2, an elevated coastal cave site on the small island of Kisar in the Lesser Sunda Islands of eastern Indonesia dated to 15,500-3700 cal. BP. This multidisciplinary study demonstrates extreme marine dietary adaptations, engagement with an extensive exchange network across open seas, and early mortuary practices. A flexed male and a female, interred in a single grave with abundant shellfish and obsidian at Ratu Mali 2 by 14.7 ka are the oldest known human burials in Wallacea with established funerary rites. These findings highlight the impressive flexibility of our species in marginal environments and provide insight into the earliest known ritualised treatment of the dead in Wallacea.

Diet and social status on Taumako, a Polynesian outlier in the Southeastern Solomon Islands.

Stable isotopes (δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and δ(34)S) are used to characterize the diet of the adult individuals (n = 99) interred in the Namu burial ground located on the Polynesian outlier of Taumako (∼300-750 BP). Polynesian outliers are islands on the fringe of Remote Oceania that were inhabited by a back migration of populations from Polynesia during prehistory. As a result of admixture with nearby island communities, little is known about the social structure and social diversity of the prehistoric inhabitants of Taumako. The distribution of prestige grave goods within the Namu cemetery has been used as evidence to support the premise that Taumakoan social structure was stratified like Polynesian societies. Here we test the hypothesis that "wealthy" individuals and males will display isotopic ratios indicative of the consumption of "high status" foods in the Pacific islands such as pork, chicken, sea turtle, and pelagic fish. The isotope results suggest the δ(34) S values were diagenetically altered, possibly an effect of volcanism. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios indicate that the diet of all the individuals included a mixture of C3 terrestrial plant foods (likely starchy staples such as yam, taro, and breadfruit, in addition to nuts) and a variety of marine resources, including reef and pelagic fish. The stable isotope results indicate that wealthy individuals and males were eating more foods from higher trophic levels, interpreted as being high status animal foods. The socially differentiated food consumption patterns are discussed within a Pacific island context.

Female bone physiology resilience in a past Polynesian Outlier community.

Remodelling is a fundamental biological process involved in the maintenance of bone physiology and function. We know that a range of health and lifestyle factors can impact this process in living and past societies, but there is a notable gap in bone remodelling data for populations from the Pacific Islands. We conducted the first examination of femoral cortical histology in 69 individuals from ca. 440-150 BP Taumako in Solomon Islands, a remote 'Polynesian Outlier' island in Melanesia. We tested whether bone remodelling indicators differed between age groups, and biological sex validated using ancient DNA. Bone vascular canal and osteon size, vascular porosity, and localised osteon densities, corrected by femoral robusticity indices were examined. Females had statistically significantly higher vascular porosities when compared to males, but osteon densities and ratios of canal-osteon (~ 8%) did not differ between the sexes. Our results indicate that, compared to males, localised femoral bone tissue of the Taumako females did not drastically decline with age, contrary to what is often observed in modern populations. However, our results match findings in other archaeological samples-a testament to past female bone physiology resilience, also now observed in the Pacific region.

Ancient genomes from the last three millennia support multiple human dispersals into Wallacea.

Previous research indicates that human genetic diversity in Wallacea-islands in present-day Eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste that were never part of the Sunda or Sahul continental shelves-has been shaped by complex interactions between migrating Austronesian farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherer communities. Yet, inferences based on present-day groups proved insufficient to disentangle this region's demographic movements and admixture timings. Here, we investigate the spatio-temporal patterns of variation in Wallacea based on genome-wide data from 16 ancient individuals (2600-250 years BP) from the North Moluccas, Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara. While ancestry in the northern islands primarily reflects contact between Austronesian- and Papuan-related groups, ancestry in the southern islands reveals additional contributions from Mainland Southeast Asia that seem to predate the arrival of Austronesians. Admixture time estimates further support multiple and/or continuous admixture involving Papuan- and Asian-related groups throughout Wallacea. Our results clarify previously debated times of admixture and suggest that the Neolithic dispersals into Island Southeast Asia are associated with the spread of multiple genetic ancestries.

Exploitation and utilization of tropical rainforests indicated in dental calculus of ancient Oceanic Lapita culture colonists.

Remote Oceania, which largely consists of islands covered in tropical forests, was the last region on earth to be successfully colonized by humans, beginning 3,000 years ago. We examined human dental calculus from burials in an ancient Lapita culture cemetery to gain insight into the early settlement of this previously untouched tropical environment, specifically on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. Dental calculus is an ideal material to analyse questions of human and plant interactions due to the ingestion of plant-derived microparticles that become incorporated into the calculus as it forms throughout a person's life. Most of the microparticles identified here are from tree and shrub resources, including a ~2,900 calibrated (cal) BP example of banana in Remote Oceania, providing direct evidence for the importance of forests and arboriculture during the settlement of Remote Oceania.

Sensationalism and speaking to the public: Scientific rigour and interdisciplinary collaborations in palaeopathology.

OBJECTIVES: In this brief communication we discuss issues concerning scientific rigour in palaeopathological publications, particularly studies published in clinical or general science journals, that employ skeletal analysis to elucidate the lives and deaths of historical figures or interpret "mysterious" assemblages or burials. We highlight the relationship between poor methodological rigour and lack of interdisciplinary communication, and discuss how this can result in scientifically weak, sensational narratives being presented to the public. CONCLUSIONS: Although most high profile publications involving analysis of archaeological human remains are methodologically sound and well interpreted, others have suffered from poor scientific rigour stemming from an apparent lack of awareness of anthropological methods and ethics. When these publications are highlighted by the press, sensationalistic narratives are perpetuated which may reflect poorly on our discipline and give the public unrealistic expectations about our work. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: We suggest that best practice in high-profile paleopathological research include recruitment of a range of authors and reviewers from clinical sciences, anthropology, and the humanities, consideration of the ethical issues surrounding retrospective diagnosis, and transparency with the press in regards to the limitations inherent in this kind of work.

Language continuity despite population replacement in Remote Oceania.

Recent genomic analyses show that the earliest peoples reaching Remote Oceania-associated with Austronesian-speaking Lapita culture-were almost completely East Asian, without detectable Papuan ancestry. However, Papuan-related genetic ancestry is found across present-day Pacific populations, indicating that peoples from Near Oceania have played a significant, but largely unknown, ancestral role. Here, new genome-wide data from 19 ancient South Pacific individuals provide direct evidence of a so-far undescribed Papuan expansion into Remote Oceania starting ~2,500 yr BP, far earlier than previously estimated and supporting a model from historical linguistics. New genome-wide data from 27 contemporary ni-Vanuatu demonstrate a subsequent and almost complete replacement of Lapita-Austronesian by Near Oceanian ancestry. Despite this massive demographic change, incoming Papuan languages did not replace Austronesian languages. Population replacement with language continuity is extremely rare-if not unprecedented-in human history. Our analyses show that rather than one large-scale event, the process was incremental and complex, with repeated migrations and sex-biased admixture with peoples from the Bismarck Archipelago.

Assessing human diet and movement in the Tongan maritime chiefdom using isotopic analyses.

The rise of stratified societies fundamentally influences the interactions between status, movement, and food. Using isotopic analyses, we assess differences in diet and mobility of individuals excavated from two burial mounds located at the `Atele burial site on Tongatapu, the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga (c. 500 - 150 BP). The first burial mound (To-At-1) was classified by some archaeologists as a commoner's mound while the second burial mound (To-At-2) was possibly used for interment of the chiefly class. In this study, stable isotope analyses of diet (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S; n = 41) are used to asses paleodiet and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (n = 30) are analyzed to investigate individual mobility to test whether sex and social status affected these aspects of life. Our results show significant differences in diet between burial mounds and sexes. Those interred in To-At-2 displayed lower δ13C values, indicating they ate relatively more terrestrial plants (likely starchy vegetable staples) compared with To-At-1 individuals. Females displayed significantly lower δ15N values compared with males within the entire assemblage. No differences in δ34S values were observed between sexes or burial mound but it is possible that sea spray or volcanism may have affected these values. One individual displayed the strontium isotopic composition representative of a nonlocal immigrant (outside 2SD of the mean). This suggests the hegemonic control over interisland travel, may have prevented long-term access to the island by non-Tongans exemplifying the political and spiritual importance of the island of Tongatapu in the maritime chiefdom.

Lapita diet in remote oceania: new stable isotope evidence from the 3000-year-old Teouma site, Efate Island, Vanuatu.

Remote Oceania was colonized ca. 3000 BP by populations associated with the Lapita Cultural Complex, marking a major event in the prehistoric settlement of the Pacific Islands. Although over 250 Lapita sites have been found throughout the Western Pacific, human remains associated with Lapita period sites are rare. The site of Teouma, on Efate Island, Vanuatu has yielded the largest burial assemblage (n=68 inhumations) of Lapita period humans ever discovered, providing a unique opportunity for assessing human adaptation to the environment in a colonizing population. Stable isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) of human bone collagen from forty-nine Teouma adults were analyzed against a comprehensive dietary baseline to assess the paleodiet of some of Vanuatu's earliest inhabitants. The isotopic dietary baseline included both modern plants and animals (n=98) and prehistoric fauna from the site (n=71). The human stable isotope data showed that dietary protein at Teouma included a mixture of reef fish and inshore organisms and a variety of higher trophic marine (e.g. marine turtle) and terrestrial animals (e.g. domestic animals and fruit bats). The domestic pigs and chickens at Teouma primarily ate food from a C3 terrestrial environment but their δ15N values indicated that they were eating foods from higher trophic levels than those of plants, such as insects or human fecal matter, suggesting that animal husbandry at the site may have included free range methods. The dietary interpretations for the humans suggest that broad-spectrum foraging and the consumption of domestic animals were the most important methods for procuring dietary protein at the site. Males displayed significantly higher δ15N values compared with females, possibly suggesting dietary differences associated with labor specialization or socio-cultural practices relating to food distribution.

Diet and human mobility from the lapita to the early historic period on Uripiv island, Northeast Malakula, Vanuatu.

Vanuatu was first settled ca. 3000 years ago by populations associated with the Lapita culture. Models of diet, subsistence practices, and human interaction for the Lapita and subsequent occupation periods have been developed mainly using the available archaeological and paleoenvironmental data. We test these models using stable (carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) and radiogenic (strontium) isotopes to assess the diet and childhood residency of past communities that lived on the small (<1 km2) island of Uripiv, located off the northeast coast of Malakula, Vanuatu. The burials are from the initial Lapita occupation of the island (ca. 2800-2600 BP), the subsequent later Lapita (LL, ca. 2600-2500 BP) and post-Lapita (PL, ca. 2500-2000 BP) occupations, in addition to a late prehistoric/historic (LPH, ca. 300-150 BP) occupation period. The human stable isotope results indicate a progressively more terrestrial diet over time, which supports the archaeological model of an intensification of horticultural and arboricultural systems as local resources were depleted, populations grew, and cultural situations changed. Pig diets were similar and included marine foods during the Lapita and PL periods but were highly terrestrial during the LPH period. This dietary pattern indicates that there was little variation in animal husbandry methods during the first 800 years of prehistory; however, there was a subsequent change as animal diets became more controlled in the LPH period. After comparison with the local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr baseline, all of the Lapita and LPH individuals appeared to be 'local', but three of the PL individuals were identified as "non-local." We suggest that these "non-locals" moved to the island after infancy or childhood from one of the larger islands, supporting the model of a high level of regional interaction during the post-Lapita period.

Scurvy in a tropical paradise? Evaluating the possibility of infant and adult vitamin C deficiency in the Lapita skeletal sample of Teouma, Vanuatu, Pacific islands.

The Neolithic colonisation of the Pacific islands was one of the most challenging migration events in human history. The regions east of the Solomon Islands were colonised relatively recently by a people known as the Lapita. The Lapita brought with them a 'transported landscape' of domesticated plants and animals that had to be established upon arrival for the survival of these fledgling communities. Colonisation of these previously uninhabited islands was potentially perilous, and could leave colonisers vulnerable to periods of resource stress. The largest cemetery sample of Lapita people from the site of Teouma in Vanuatu offers a unique opportunity to assess the impact of colonisation on the health of pioneering populations. This paper explores the possibility that Teouma people experienced vitamin C deficiency as one of the consequences of the agricultural subsistence practices during the initial phases of island colonisation. Skeletal lesions in infants and adults indicative of scurvy suggest that initial colonisation phases in the Pacific islands involved precarious times involving deficiencies of key nutrients. Colonisation of the Pacific islands may share similar frameworks and problems as periods of subsistence transition in other parts of the world.

The first New Zealanders: patterns of diet and mobility revealed through isotope analysis.

Direct evidence of the environmental impact of human colonization and subsequent human adaptational responses to new environments is extremely rare anywhere in the world. New Zealand was the last Polynesian island group to be settled by humans, who arrived around the end of the 13th century AD. Little is known about the nature of human adaptation and mobility during the initial phase of colonization. We report the results of the isotopic analysis (carbon, nitrogen and strontium) of the oldest prehistoric skeletons discovered in New Zealand to assess diet and migration patterns. The isotope data show that the culturally distinctive burials, Group 1, had similar diets and childhood origins, supporting the assertion that this group was distinct from Group 2/3 and may have been part of the initial colonizing population at the site. The Group 2/3 individuals displayed highly variable diets and likely lived in different regions of the country before their burial at Wairau Bar, supporting the archaeological evidence that people were highly mobile in New Zealand since the initial phase of human settlement.