| Abstract: |
DeNiro and Epstein {!DeNiro and Epstein 1981} carried out analyzes of the Tehuacan Valley population, and their results suggest that this group consumed substantial amounts of C4 plants, likely maize, by 4,000 B.C., much earlier than the archaeologically-suggested date for the maize-centered economy. Nitrogen isotopes, 14N and 15N, also reflect similar ratios in the diet {DeNiro and Epstein 1981
Hare et al 1991
Wada 1980}. Nitrogen isotopes are potentially useful for discriminating between marine and terrestrial food sources, owing to differences in the way that nitrogen enters the biological domain of these ecological systems. It has been reported that the legume plant family has a lower 15N value than the non-legume family plants because the former intakes nitrogen from nitrogen-fixing bacteria and the latter from the air.
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