Diet and Health in Prehistoric Central California

Karen Smith Gardner 
CSU, Chico Anthropology Graduate Student 

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The subtitle of this presentation is “Insights from Stable Isotope Analysis of Human Bone from the Yukisma Mound.” Karen Smith Gardner presents her research from studying an Ohlone native tribal burial site unearthed in Santa Clara County, near Milpitas, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. She discusses dietary patterns of the tribe that were discovered by analysis of the bones at the site, such as what the Ohlone of that area ate and how it compares with other tribes. She also presents an analysis of individual dietary patterns by sex, age, and markers of status/social roles. 

This presentation was co-authored by Rosemary Cambra, the Chair of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, who conducted the excavations at the site. Permission was granted to post this study for educational and research purposes. 

Recorded: April 22, 2011