PaleoAmerica A journal of early human migration and dispersal ISSN: 2055-5563 (Print) 2055-5571 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypal20 Tar Trap: No Evidence of Domestic Dog Burial with “La Brea Woman” Benjamin T. Fuller, John R. Southon, Simon M. Fahrni, John M. Harris, Aisling B. Farrell, Gary T. Takeuchi, Olaf Nehlich, Michael P. Richards, Eric J. Guiry & R. E. Taylor To cite this article: Benjamin T. Fuller, John R. Southon, Simon M. Fahrni, John M. Harris, Aisling B. Farrell, Gary T. Takeuchi, Olaf Nehlich, Michael P. Richards, Eric J. Guiry & R. E. Taylor (2016): Tar Trap: No Evidence of Domestic Dog Burial with “La Brea Woman”, PaleoAmerica, DOI: 10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000011 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000011 Published online: 09 Mar 2016. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ypal20 Download by: [210.78.142.88] Date: 11 March 2016, At: 04:41 Tar Trap: No Evidence of Domestic Dog Burial with “La Brea Woman” Benjamin T. Fuller, John R. Southon, Simon M. Fahrni University of California, Irvine, CA John M. Harris, Aisling B. Farrell, Gary T. Takeuchi The La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, Los Angeles, CA Downloaded by [210.78.142.88] at 04:41 11 March 2016 Olaf Nehlich, Michael P. Richards University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany Eric J. Guiry University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada R. E. Taylor University of California, Irvine, CA; University of California, Riverside, CA; University of California, Los Angeles, CA We radiocarbon dated the domestic dog found associated with La Brea Woman at the Rancho La Brea tar pits (Los Angeles, CA) to determine the validity of this human–dog connection. The domestic dog yielded a radiocarbon age of 3125 ± 25 14C yr BP (3250–3400 cal yr BP) and La Brea Woman had a re-dated age of 9080 ± 15 14C yr BP (10,220–10,250 cal yr BP). This ∼7000-year offset dispels the hypothesis this was an intentional and ceremonial human–dog burial. Keywords Holocene, Paleoamerican, southern California, stable isotopes, radiocarbon dating Hancock Park, in central Los Angeles, CA, is the location of the Rancho La Brea (RLB) tar pits, a set of asphalt seeps that have yielded what is currently the richest collection of North American terrestrial plant and animal remains spanning the last ∼50,000 years (Friscia et al. 2008; Stock and Harris 1992). In 1914, excavations in Pit 10 recovered the only human remains from RLB (Merriam 1914; Wyman 1915), a partial female skeleton (“La Brea Woman”) with an estimated height of 144 cm and a likely age at death of 17–18 years (Bromage and Shermis 1981; Kennedy 1989). Early radiocarbon measurements on bone amino acids from her femur yielded a date of 9000 ± 80 14C yr BP (UCLA-1292BB), making her remains one of the oldest known human skeletons discovered in North America (Berger et al. 1971). Speculation over how La Brea Woman came to be entombed in the asphalt deposits includes theories of accidental entrapment (e.g., Heizer 1943; Hrdlička 1918), Los Angeles’ first homicide (e.g., Berger et al. 1971; Bromage and Shermis 1981; Hrdlička 1918), and intentional ceremonial reburial (Reynolds 1985). Remains of a small canid found near her were identified as those of an aboriginal domestic dog (Canis familiaris) similar to the small slender-nosed variety known as Techichi, common in the American Southwest (Reynolds 1985). The incompleteness of the human skeleton and its proximity to scattered bone and shell artifacts, and in particular to the Correspondence to: Benjamin T. Fuller. Email: [email protected] © 2016 Center for the Study of the First Americans DOI 10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000011 PaleoAmerica 2016 1 2 PaleoAmerica 2016 10,220–10,250 3250–3400 9080 ± 15 3125 ± 25 156 – 437 – 3.3 3.3 0.26 – 15.1 15.6 *Los Angeles County Museum Rancho La Brea Project. **Additional details regarding 14C methods and isotopic analysis can be found in Fuller et al. (2014). ***Additional details about δ 34S measurements can be found in Nehlich (2015). † Calibrated using the IntCal13 data (Reimer et al. 2013) and the Calib 7.0 program (http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/). 43.1 43.8 2.7 – 7.4 6.8 −20.0 −18.9 3.3 10 3–30 kDa Mean results for La Brea Woman 133537 LACMHC* 6260 Canis familiaris 10,200–10,250 10,190–10,280 9075 ± 30 9085 ± 35 156 – 437 – 3.3 3.3 0.26 – 15 15.2 42.6 43.5 2.7 – 7.4 7.4 −20.0 −20.0 4.3 3.1 LACMHC* 1323 Homo sapiens LACMHC* 1323 Homo sapiens 127072 127086 10 3–30 kDa 10 3–30 kDa (acetone) Uncalibrated 14 C yr BP** Atomic N:S*** Atomic C:S** Atomic %C** %N** %S*** C:N** δ 34S (‰)*** δ 15N (‰)** δ 13C (‰)** Collagen yield (%)** Collagen fraction Pit analyzed** La Brea Tar Pits and Museum catalog no. Species UC Irvine accelerator mass spectrometry no. Table 1 C ages for the La Brea Woman and associated domestic dog 14 Stable isotope ratio measurements and Downloaded by [210.78.142.88] at 04:41 11 March 2016 remains of the dog, were cited by Reynolds (1985) as evidence for a formal ceremonial reburial of La Brea Woman. Ethnographic and archaeological data indicate that several Native American groups would inter a canid with a human burial, possibly to guide the spirit of the deceased in the afterlife (e.g., Bean and Smith 1978; Driver 1969); and reburial or secondary interment of larger skeletal elements was a common practice in southern California (Reynolds 1985). However, given the skeleton was dated to ∼9000 14C yr BP, the relevance of the ethnographic comparisons is questionable in light of the multiple mid- and late-Holocene population movements in the region as suggested by archaeological data. Thus, there is a strong possibility of discontinuity in the burial practices between contact period ethnographically documented groups and terminal Pleistocene/ early Holocene societies inhabiting the region (Arnold and Walsh 2010; Arnold et al. 2004). The reburial interpretation has become widely accepted as part of the popular narrative of La Brea Woman. The disarticulated partial skeleton was recovered from depths of 2.0–2.7 m (Wyman 1915), and the fragmentary cranium and mandible of the dog was distributed between 1.2 and 1.7 m (Reynolds 1985). However, the RLB pits are well known for their lack of well-defined stratigraphic context because movement of the viscous asphaltic matrix causes skeletons to disarticulate and relocate within the deposits over time (Friscia et al. 2008; Shaw and Quinn 1986; Woodard and Marcus 1973). Therefore, while the lack of any direct association between the dog and human remains raises doubts about the reburial hypothesis, it does not necessarily refute it. The age of La Brea Woman is known, and the radiocarbon dating of the canid to an age of ∼9000 14C yr BP would establish it as one of the earliest domestic dogs in North America (Morey and Wiant 1992; Tito et al. 2011). Here we test the domestic dog–human burial connection at RLB by using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to directly date bone from the mandible of the domestic dog and the ulna of the human skeleton. Stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ 13C), nitrogen (δ 15N), and sulfur (δ 34S) are also reported (Lee-Thorp 2008) (Table 1). Domestic dog and La Brea Woman bone pieces (≈150 mg) were obtained using a handheld Dremel rotary tool at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, and collagen was isolated at the UC Irvine, Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, using the procedure developed by Fuller et al. (2014) for asphalt impregnated bones at RLB. Since there was some possibility that a preservative ( possibly glyptal – an alkyd resin) was used to conserve the La Brea Woman skeleton, two aliquots were dated, with one receiving an initial sonication treatment with acetone (2 × 1 hour), then Calibrated age range BP (2σ)† Research Brief Downloaded by [210.78.142.88] at 04:41 11 March 2016 Research Brief Figure 1 Schematic map showing location of Rancho La Brea relative to past and present coastlines of the Santa Monica Basin. Dashed line represents approximate location of coast at 10,000 cal yr BP (i.e., 30 m below current sea level) (Lambeck et al. 2014). Tectonic uplift along the Santa Monica Basin coastline over the past 10,000 calendar years is negligible (< 4 m) in comparison to eustatic sea level change (Ward and Valensise 1994). Map drawn with Arc GIS 10.3 using bathymetric and topographical digital elevation model data produced by NOAA’s Tsunami Inundation Project and National Geographic Data Center (Caldwell et al. 2011). water (1 hour), all at ∼45°C. This sample, labeled “acetone” in Table 1, was then processed using the standard protocol. Extracted collagen was very well preserved: fluffy and white, with yields > 1 per cent, and with atomic C:N of 3.3, all indications it was free of petroleum contamination and suitable for isotopic analysis and AMS radiocarbon dating. All radiocarbon dates were calibrated using IntCal13 data (Reimer et al. 2013) and the Calib 7.0 program (http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/) operated by the Queen’s University, Belfast. Stable isotope ratio and 14C measurements are reported in Table 1. La Brea Woman had an exclusive C3 terrestrial diet with no evidence of marine protein consumption (δ 13C = −20.0‰). This is significant given the site’s proximity to the coast (Figure 1) and the documented maritime capabilities of Paleoindians in the area (e.g., Erlandson et al. 2011), who would have had ready access to the rich marine resources along the southern California coast. The δ 15N (7.4‰) and δ 34S (2.7‰) results are low, but it is impossible to determine a more specific diet without additional isotopic measurements from other species that date to the early Holocene at RLB, and this is an area of active research. However, contemporary early Mesolithic humans from Europe had high animal protein diets and display similar low δ 15N values, suggesting these could be characteristic of the climate and environment of the Northern Hemisphere during this period (e.g., Schulting 2005; Schulting et al. 2008). The domestic dog had a similar diet that was predominately C3 terrestrial (δ 13C = −18.9‰) with a low δ 15N value (6.8‰); as for the human remains, additional studies are needed to determine the paleodiet with more specificity. La Brea Woman was re-dated twice, and the mean age (9080 ± 15 14C yr BP) agrees with the original result of 9000 ± 80 14C yr BP (UCLA-1292BB) (Berger et al. 1971). The new calibrated date corresponds to an age range of 10,220–10,250 cal yr BP (CALIB 7.1 using IntCal13 data, 2σ range), and confirms the presumed early Holocene antiquity of this skeleton. Currently, there are nine New World human remains with published 14C ages (measured directly on human skeletal material) that are older than La Brea Woman, although concerns have been expressed regarding the accuracy of the 14C measurements on the two oldest skeletal samples (Taylor and Bar-Yosef 2014, section 7.3.6, table 7.1). In contrast, the domestic dog produced an age of 3125 ± 25 14C yr BP or a calibrated age range of 3250–3400 cal yr BP (CALIB 7.1 using IntCal13 data, 2σ range). This ∼7000-year offset underscores the need to directly 14 C date objects from RLB rather than relying on a PaleoAmerica 2016 3 Research Brief single date or a few dates to determine ages of multiple specimens from a deposit. It also shows conclusively that whatever the circumstances were that led to the presence of La Brea Woman in Pit 10 at RLB, they did not include the intentional associated burial of a domestic dog. Acknowledgments Hector Martinez and Shari Bush are thanked for assistance with collagen preparation. Bryn Letham is thanked for creating Figure 1. The AMS 14C dating of La Brea Woman was partly supported by the Gabrielle O. Vierra Memorial Fund (RET). References Downloaded by [210.78.142.88] at 04:41 11 March 2016 Arnold, J. E., and M. R. Walsh 2010. 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