Chemical analyses of carbonized and absorbed organic residues from archaeological ceramic cooking vessels can provide a unique window into the culinary cultures of ancient people, resource use, and environmental effects by identifying ingredients used in ancient meals. However, it remains uncertain whether recovered organic residues represent only the final foodstuffs prepared or are the accumulation of various cooking events within the same vessel. To assess this, we cooked seven mixtures of C₃and C₄foodstuffs in unglazed pots once per week for one year, then changed recipes between pots for the final cooking events. We conducted bulk stable-isotope analysis and lipid residue analysis on the charred food macro-remains, carbonized thin layer organic patina residues and absorbed lipids over the course of the experiment. Our results indicate that: (1) the composition of charred macro-remains represent the final foodstuffs cooked within vessels, (2) thin-layer patina residues represent a mixture of previous cooking events with bias towards the final product(s) cooked in the pot, and (3) absorbed lipid residues are developed over a number of cooking events and are replaced slowly over time, with little evidence of the final recipe ingredients.

Significance: The arrival of humans and human-introduced species to Pacific islands resulted in significant, long-lasting transformations to local ecosystems. However, direct measurements of deep-time human effects can be difficult to quantify from archaeological datasets. Isotopically reconstructed diet of the Pacific rat ( Rattus exulans ), a commensal species introduced by humans during one of the most dramatic archaeological examples of past human migration and ecosystem alteration, can provide insight into resource availability and utilization within the human-commensal niche. Our results highlight significant long-term restructuring of nutrient flows through ecosystems resulting from human arrival and subsequent land use on three Polynesian islands. We also demonstrate that stable isotope analysis of often-ignored commensal taxa represents a tool for tracking human activities and ecosystem effects more broadly.

Drivers of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions are relevant to modern conservation policy in a world of growing human population density, climate change, and faunal decline. Traditional debates tend toward global solutions, blaming either dramatic climate change or dispersals of Homo sapiens to new regions. Inherent limitations to archaeological and paleontological data sets often require reliance on scant, poorly resolved lines of evidence. However, recent developments in scientific technologies allow for more local, context-specific approaches. In the present article, we highlight how developments in five such methodologies (radiocarbon approaches, stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, ancient proteomics, microscopy) have helped drive detailed analysis of specific megafaunal species, their particular ecological settings, and responses to new competitors or predators, climate change, and other external phenomena. The detailed case studies of faunal community composition, extinction chronologies, and demographic trends enabled by these methods examine megafaunal extinctions at scales appropriate for practical understanding of threats against particular species in their habitats today.

The human colonization of eastern Africa's near- and offshore islands was accompanied by the translocation of several domestic, wild and commensal fauna, many of which had long-term impacts on local environments. To better understand the timing and nature of the introduction of domesticated caprines (sheep and goat) to these islands, this study applied collagen peptide fingerprinting (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry or ZooMS) to archaeological remains from eight Iron Age sites, dating betweenca300 and 1000 CE, in the Zanzibar, Mafia and Comoros archipelagos. Where previous zooarchaeological analyses had identified caprine remains at four of these sites, this study identified goat at seven sites and sheep at three, demonstrating that caprines were more widespread than previously known. The ZooMS results support an introduction of goats to island eastern Africa from at least the seventh century CE, while sheep in our sample arrived one–two centuries later. Goats may have been preferred because, as browsers, they were better adapted to the islands' environments. The results allow for a more accurate understanding of early caprine husbandry in the study region and provide a critical archaeological baseline for examining the potential long-term impacts of translocated fauna on island ecologies.

Tikopia Island, a small and relatively isolated Polynesian Outlier in the Southeast Solomon Islands, supports a remarkably dense human population with minimal external support. Examining long-term trends in human land use on Tikopia through archaeological datasets spanning nearly 3000 years presents an opportunity to investigate pathways to long-term sustainability in a tropical island setting. Here, we trace nutrient dynamics across Tikopia’s three pre-European contact phases (Kiki, Sinapupu, Tuakamali) via stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of commensal Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) and domestic pig (Sus scrofa) bone and tooth dentine collagen. Our results show a decline in δ¹⁵N values from the Kiki (c. 800 BC-AD 100) to Sinapupu (c. AD 100–1200) phases, consistent with long-term commensal isotope trends observed on other Polynesian islands. However, increased δ¹⁵N coupled with lower δ¹³C values in the Tuakamali Phase (c. AD 1200–1800) point to a later nutrient rejuvenation, likely tied to dramatic transformations in agriculture and land use at the Sinapupu-Tuakamali transition. This study offers new, quantifiable evidence for deep-time land and resource management decisions on Tikopia and subsequent impacts on island nutrient status and long-term sustainability.