In California archaeology, and in many contexts world-wide, few data exist to compare functional differences among traditional ground-stone mortar designs. Here, experimental small-seed and acorn/nut processing rates are reported for three mortar designs (deep bowl, deep conical, and shallow cup) and two grinding slab designs (flat unshaped, and shallow basin). These designs, in various combinations, are common in many plant-based hunting and gathering societies. Results of the grinding experiments are considered in reference to manufacturing costs, mobility, and resource use. Unexpected relationships are demonstrated for bowl and conical mortar shapes and seed processing. In particular, large mortars with deep, broad interiors are highly effective tools for producing flour from both small wild seeds and acorns. Conical mortar shapes are good for acorn processing, but perform poorly for processing small seeds into flour. As expected, shallow mortars are the least productive, but least expensive, tools. Large mortars with broad, bowl-shaped interiors would have been excellent tools for long-term use in settings where multiple types of plant resources were processed into finer particles. Despite their superior performance, steep costs of manufacturing, including the transport of suitable raw materials, may have limited the use and ownership of these mortars.

Analysis of preserved lipids from archaeological sites in northwest Alaska indicates hunters exploited marine animal resources as early as 4500 years ago. Bone preservation at early prehistoric sites in northern Alaska is generally poor, contributing to uncertainty about the economic orientation of the earliest Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt) hunters. We used lipid analysis and compound specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of burned, cemented sand and organic residue features to detect the use of marine versus terrestrial animals at several coastal sites in northwest Alaska. Though the sample size for this initial study was small (n=5), comparisons among samples from early ASTt, and later Norton and Thule sites indicate all three groups made use of marine animals for food and/or fuel. Recently obtained radiocarbon dates suggest ASTt hunters settled coastal regions of Alaska prior to moving inland to exploit terrestrial habitats. Our results provide empirical evidence that suggests the economy of the early ASTt population included a maritime component. In Arctic settings where bone preservation is poor, lipid analysis of cemented sand and organic residue features can provide an effective alternative for detecting the use and processing of marine versus terrestrial animals.

Sexual division of labor with females as gatherers and males as hunters is a major empirical regularity of hunter-gatherer ethnography, suggesting an ancestral behavioral pattern. We present an archeological discovery and meta-analysis that challenge the man-the-hunter hypothesis. Excavations at the Andean highland site of Wilamaya Patjxa reveal a 9000-year-old human burial (WMP6) associated with a hunting toolkit of stone projectile points and animal processing tools. Osteological, proteomic, and isotopic analyses indicate that this early hunter was a young adult female who subsisted on terrestrial plants and animals. Analysis of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene burial practices throughout the Americas situate WMP6 as the earliest and most secure hunter burial in a sample that includes 10 other females in statistical parity with early male hunter burials. The findings are consistent with nongendered labor practices in which early hunter-gatherer females were big-game hunters.

The enamel proteome includes a range of proteins that are well-preserved in archaeological settings but have so far received less study than those associated with sex-estimation of enamel. We look beyond sex-specific sequencing of amelogenin to investigate the potential of several serum proteins, including immunoglobulin gamma (IgG), the major immunoglobulin found in blood serum, and C-reactive protein (CRP), which is associated with inflammatory response, to provide insight into the health and stresses experienced by individuals in the past. We apply this approach to enamel samples from Mission-Period ancestral Ohlone interred at Asistencia San Pedro y San Pablo (CA-SMA-71/H; n = 11). For comparison, we also examine enamel from historic-period European-Americans interred in the City Cemetery in San Francisco (n = 12), and extracted third molars from present-day military cadets (n = 8). Results indicate that IgG is elevated among individuals at the asistencia relative to samples from present-day military cadets, and historic City Cemetery individuals (ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey Kramer tests, p < .02). Further, the inflammatory protein CRP, normally expressed at much lower levels than IgG, was present in 55% (6 of 11) of the asistencia samples, and in 17% (2 of 12) of the historic City Cemetery samples, but was not detected in enamel samples from present-day military cadets. While more studies are needed, we argue that the difference in IgG could reflect higher levels of chronic diseases such as tuberculosis among Ohlone living within the Mission system, and the presence of measurable amounts of CRP could relate to higher degrees of physical, social, and emotional stresses. To our knowledge, this is the first paleoproteomic study of immune proteins in tooth enamel. The ability to track immune responses during tooth formation could provide valuable and high-resolution information on ancient health and disease at the level of the individual over archaeological time-scales.

Sex estimation of skeletons is fundamental to many archaeological studies. Currently, three approaches are available to estimate sex-osteology, genomics, or proteomics, but little is known about the relative reliability of these methods in applied settings. We present matching osteological, shotgun-genomic, and proteomic data to estimate the sex of 55 individuals, each with an independent radiocarbon date between 2,440 and 100 cal BP, from two ancestral Ohlone sites in Central California. Sex estimation was possible in 100% of this burial sample using proteomics, in 91% using genomics, and in 51% using osteology. Agreement between the methods was high, however conflicts did occur. Genomic sex estimates were 100% consistent with proteomic and osteological estimates when DNA reads were above 100,000 total sequences. However, more than half the samples had DNA read numbers below this threshold, producing high rates of conflict with osteological and proteomic data where nine out of twenty conditional DNA sex estimates conflicted with proteomics. While the DNA signal decreased by an order of magnitude in the older burial samples, there was no decrease in proteomic signal. We conclude that proteomics provides an important complement to osteological and shotgun-genomic sex estimation.