INTRA-INSULAR MOBILITY AND ANCIENT HUMAN ADAPTATIONS TO RESTRICTED ENVIRONMENTS. CASE STUDY: STRONTIUM ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF LANZAROTE, CANARY ISLANDS By Paloma Cuello del Pozo A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology Committee Membership Dr. Marisol Cortes-Rincon, Committee Chair Dr. Marissa A. Ramsier, Committee Member Dr. Pablo Atoche Peña, Committee Member Dr. David S. Baston, Committee Member Dr. Marissa A. Ramsier, Graduate Coordinator May 2016 ABSTRACT INTRA-INSULAR MOBILITY AND ANCIENT HUMAN ADAPTATIONS TO RESTRICTED ENVIRONMENTS. CASE STUDY: THE USE OF STRONTIUM STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF LANZAROTE, CANARY ISLANDS. Paloma Cuello del Pozo Provenience of first Canary Islands populations is still a matter of dispute after a few centuries of enquiry. The amount of material culture exhibiting Classical Mediterranean craftsmanship alludes that the islands must have been populated earlier than previously thought. Several bioarchaeological techniques have shown the intricacies behind Canarian archaeology; methods such as the use of Carbon-14 dating have revealed dispersed chronologies throughout the archipelago. Mitochondrial DNA has shown substantial gene flow inherent in Canary islander, thus making it difficult to pinpoint ancestry through biomolecular studies. Trace element or stable isotope analyses have not yet been fully incorporated in the archaeological toolkit of the archipelago; specifically, the assay of stable isotopes of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) as a measurement to understand population mobility has not been exploited. Archaeology throughout the world is aware of the fruitful results the technique has yielded regarding ancient human and animal mobility. This research project focuses on understanding the viability of documenting the bioavailable ratios of 87Sr/86Sr in Lanzarote Island to tackle questions regarding migration, and the peopling of the Canaries. Knowing the signatures of 87Sr/86Sr in Lanzarote Island today provides a picture of the type of values that can be potentially found in the organic remains of ii pre-Hispanic insular communities. This study aims to demonstrate the possibility of adding an interdisciplinary method to the archaeological toolbox of the Canary Islands thus helping to augment the knowledge we have today about these extinct societies. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would have not been possible without the help of the Anthropology Department at Humboldt State University; their support has been a pillar for the completion of this master thesis. In addition, the contribution and patience of the following individuals have promoted the development of the project. First and foremost I would like to thank Allisen Dalhstedt for introducing me to the world of stable isotopes and strontium and for helping me understand the intricacies behind the use of biochemistry. Also, I would like to thank Professor Pablo Atoche Peña and his team for their time and collaboration by providing the zooarchaeological samples that were tested. The knowledge he has shared with me regarding the archaeology of the Canary Islands has been a great foundation for the contextualization of this project. I would also like to thank Dr. Karin M. Frei for being a guide when I first started inquiring about the possibility of applying this methodology in the Canarian landscape; her references were so critical for this research. Moreover, I would like to give many thanks to Professor Drew Coleman for his time invested, including his laboratory team for making their Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory accessible for this project. I would like to extend my gratitude towards Drs. Joaquín Meco and Daniel Muhs for dedicating me their time and carefully instructing me about the geology of the Canary Islands. Also, I thank Drs. Marisol Cortes-Rincon, Marissa R. Ramsier, and David S. Baston for their comments and guidance. Last but not least, I want to give my parents a special dedication for the various types of support they provided me throughout this journey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Why Strontium and the Canary Islands .......................................................................... 1 Stable Isotopes of Strontium and Archaeology .............................................................. 3 Spatio-Temporal Background ......................................................................................... 4 Organization of the Thesis .............................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 2: THE PALEOCLIMATOLOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE CANARY ISLANDS ............................................................................................... 10 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 10 Geographic Location ..................................................................................................... 11 Origin of Canarian Archipelago and Its Ecology ......................................................... 12 Canary Islands’ biogeography .................................................................................. 12 Modern Ecological Characteristics ............................................................................... 17 The Environmental and Geological Past of the Canaries ............................................. 21 Geological history of Lanzarote ................................................................................ 21 Paleoclimatological progression ............................................................................... 24 Geomorphology and Chemistry of Lanzarote’s Terrain ............................................... 26 v Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 3: SR TESTING AS A MEAN TO UNDERSTAND ANCIENT POPULATION MOBILITY IN THE CANARY ISLANDS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, LANZAROTE ISLAND ............................................................................. 31 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 31 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 33 What is an isotope? ................................................................................................... 33 Pioneering work ........................................................................................................ 35 Strontium in the Earth and Skeleton ............................................................................. 37 Geochemistry: 87Sr/86Sr ............................................................................................ 37 Continental Sr ............................................................................................................... 39 South Iberian Peninsula and its radiogenicity ........................................................... 40 North-west African loesses ....................................................................................... 41 Sr and Island Archaeology ............................................................................................ 42 Sr in the biosphere .................................................................................................... 44 Sr in the vegetation ................................................................................................... 45 Sr in the prehistoric human skeleton ......................................................................... 47 Intricacies Inherent in the Method ................................................................................ 51 Synthesis ....................................................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER 4: THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE CANARY ISLANDS: YESTERDAY AND TODAY ....................................................................... 56 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 56 Ancient Narratives ........................................................................................................ 58 The Beginnings of Archaeology in the Canary Islands ................................................ 60 Late 18th to early 19th century ................................................................................... 60 vi 19th to 20th century .................................................................................................... 63 Spain, Franquist