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Has a nice introduction on why to use chemical analysis of bone for analysis of ancient diets. pg 64 A benchmark for the emergence of the field of paleonutrition was the publication by Wing and Brown in 1979. Since its publication, successive vogues, or emphases, in whihc one aspect of nutrition relied heavily upon the hunting hypthesis in paleoanthropology. In this paradigm, meat intake was seen as the key element in human adatation and in the development of human social differentiation {Cartmill 1993}. The hypothesis also became the central paradigm in paleonutrition {e.g., Wing and Brown 1979
Ambrose 1993
Radosevich 1993:296}. pg 66-67 White and Schwarcz {!1989} suggest physiological, rather than nutritional, causes for sex differences in trace elements. Maya females display lower levels of zinc than males. Low lelvels of zince have been associated with low meat diets. However, this needs to be confirmed with other elements like Nitrogen for the possibility of low meat consumption. Therefore, zinc loss in pregnancy and lactation is a possible explanation {Adair 1987}. pg 68 It is important, therefore, to examine the nutritional needs and metabolism of pregnant and lactating women before concluding that difference trace element levels found between females and males in archaeological populations reflect patterns of gender inequality. This is especially true since female H-Gs spend much of their life either pregnant or lactating {Lancaster 1984}. Nutritional needs of women are likely to be quite different from those of males. Interestingly, there is evidence that females increase protein consumption during pregancy, suggesting females have higher protein demands because of reproductive needs. pg 69 Reviewing studies of human nutrition is complex. Cultural factors relating to food, and methodological issues in the reporting of dietary data, complicate the analysis of human diet. Nutritionists tend to focus on proximate analyses. That is, they focus on the nutrients consumed rather than on the foods eaten. Moreover, just as we found in dietary studies of nonhuman primates, data on sex differences are rarely reported. Hurtado and Hill {!1990} argue that hunting ( in part) , the gathering of some dispersed but nutritious fruits, is denied women because of sexual harassment or assault by non-community males. They suggest that women do not engage in hunting because it endangers dependent offspring. pg 73 The relative contributions of gender inequality models, as well as model that stress reproductive demands, are limited because most workers make an \ia priori\i choice to use one model or the other. If we want to search for clear evidence of gender inequality in access to foodstuffs, the topic should be pursued in archaeological and ethnographic contexts.
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