Rhonda Quinn

Bowling Green State University, School of Earth, Environment & Society, Adjunct

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Rhonda Quinn studies the interaction of humans and their environments in modern and fossil settings. She integrates anthropological and (bio)geochemical datasets to understand how human groups responded to resource and environmental change.
Address: Bowling Green, Ohio, United States

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Steven Pinker

Harvard University

Mary Lewis

University of Reading

Sandra Lösch

Bern University

Enrico Cirelli

Università di Bologna

Gwen Robbins Schug

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

girolamo fiorentino

University of Salento

Gabriel Gutierrez-Alonso

University of Salamanca

Yannis Hamilakis

Brown University

Jean-Jacques Hublin

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Gary Feinman

Field Museum

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Papers by Rhonda Quinn

How Much Time is Recorded with a Rib Bone Isotope?

Isotopic analyses of human skeletal materials are widely used in archaeology to infer an individu... more Isotopic analyses of human skeletal materials are widely used in archaeology to infer an individual’s diet and residential mobility. The lifetime representation of a bone isotopic value depends on established remodeling rates by skeletal element, structure, and component. Ribs, regularly used for isotopic analyses in archaeology, are thought to represent the last ~2–10 years of dietary inputs prior to death due to high turnover rates. Bomb pulse 14C dates of trabecular and cortical rib bone collagen from a small (n = 16), published sample of well-documented deceased persons indicate average lag times of 13 and 23 years, respectively, between the year of bone remodeling and year-of-death. These data suggest that rib bones record an adult’s dietary inputs from significantly younger ages than previously thought and calls into question the interpretation of rib bone isotopic values of King Richard III. Additional work integrating bomb pulse 14C dating methods and histomorphometric analyses are warranted to interpret the lifetime representation of isotopic values from ribs and other human skeletal elements.

How much time is recorded with a rib bone isotope?

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2024

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Mammalian Enamel Stable Isotopic (δ13C, δ18O) Evidence for Environmental Change during the MSA-LSA Transition at the Kisese II Rockshelter, Tanzania

The 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2019

Bomb pulse 14 C evidence for consistent remodeling rates of cortical femur collagen in middle-late adulthood

American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 2024

Objectives: Bomb pulse (BP) radiocarbon (14 C) dating methods are used by forensic anthropologist... more Objectives: Bomb pulse (BP) radiocarbon (14 C) dating methods are used by forensic anthropologists to estimate the year-of-death (YOD) of unidentified individuals. Method resolution and accuracy depend on establishing lag times, or the difference between a tissue's BP 14 C-derived year and the YOD, of various tissue types from known deceased persons. Bone lag times span many years and are thought to increase with age as a function of slowing remodeling rates. However, remodeling rates for various skeletal elements, bone structures and phases are not well known. Materials and Methods: Here a simple method is used to estimate bone remodeling rates from a compilation of published cortical femur bone collagen BP 14 C measurements (n = 102). Linear regression models and nonparametric tests are used to detect changes in lag times and remodeling rates with increasing age-at-death. Results: Remodeling rates and lag times of 3.5%/year and 29 years, respectively, are estimated from individuals aged 40-97 years. In contrast to previous work, the analysis yielded modest and negligible changes in remodeling rates and lag times with advancing age. Moreover, statistically significant differences in remodeling rates and lag times were not found between reported females and males. Discussion: Implications for the temporal contexts within an individual's lifetime of biogeochemical data in archaeology and forensic anthropology are discussed, warranting additional BP 14 C studies of known individuals and integration with histomorphometric analysis.

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The Response of Eastern African Terrestrial Environments to the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition: Paleosol Isotopic Evidence from the Turkana Basin, Kenya

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2017

Plio-Pleistocene magnetostratigraphy of the Turkana basin, Kenya

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2012

From the Piedmont to the Coast: LA‐ICP‐MS 87 Sr/ 86 Sr evidence for short‐term, long‐distance mobility in the American Southeast

Archaeometry, Jun 25, 2020

Mounting evidence suggests that the Archaic Southeast shell mound builders had large‐scale trade ... more Mounting evidence suggests that the Archaic Southeast shell mound builders had large‐scale trade networks and engaged in social aggregations. Here, incremental 87Sr/86Sr values were measured by laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) in third molar enamel samples of 11 individuals interred in the Middle Archaic Harris Creek shell burial mound in St. John's River Valley (SJRV), Florida. Results reveal that SJRV residents engaged in short‐term, long‐distance mobility up to the Piedmont margin and excursions into coastal areas, consistent with direct trading and social gatherings. Two individuals are interpreted as migrants from central Tennessee, suggesting a link to the Ohio River Valley shell mound builders.

Discriminating Between Tectonic and Climatic Controls on Early Hominin Paleoenvironments From the Koobi Fora Region, Northeastern Turkana Basin, Kenya: Part II

AGUFM, Dec 1, 2004

Understanding controls on environmental records from Plio-Pleistocene Africa is critical for inte... more Understanding controls on environmental records from Plio-Pleistocene Africa is critical for interpreting human origins. Recent geological studies from East Africa have focused on the relationship between Plio-Pleistocene patterns of hominin evolution, environmental change, and climate preserved in stratigraphic records of sedimentary basins (e.g. deMenocal, 2004; Wynn, 2004). Despite the fact that tectonics is a primary control on sedimentation in East

Aridification and orbital forcing of eastern African climate during the Plio-Pleistocene

Global and Planetary Change, 2022

We developed a composite outcrop proxy record of Plio-Pleistocene climate in eastern Africa using... more We developed a composite outcrop proxy record of Plio-Pleistocene climate in eastern Africa using the radiometrically-dated sediments of the Omo Group that preserve evidence for early hominin evolution. New stable oxygen isotopic measurements from pedogenic carbonate nodules (δ 18 O PC , n = 270) are added to the existing database for a total of 759 observations spanning a ~ 3.6 Myr interval from 4.33-0.65 Ma. Linear interpolation of sample positions between tuffaceous marker horizons produced the chronostratigraphy of the δ 18 O PC record that was correlated to Indo-Pacific marine core sediment records and astronomical solutions of orbital climate forcing. Rainfall/evaporation changes inferred from the δ 18 O PC record carry orbital eccentricity signals, and the amplitude modulation of short eccentricity (~100 kyr) predicted by the astronomical solutions is evident during some intervals. δ 18 O PC variations recover many of the ~100 kyr cycles between ~4.3-0.7 Ma, with chronostratigraphic offsets between the Omo Group time series and astronomical solutions usually within the resolution of the radiometric uncertainties, i.e., ≤ 50 kyr; however, missing time at ~1.2 Ma contributes to nearly 150 kyr of offset. These δ 18 O PC data also indicate a long-term drying trend beginning at 2.11 Ma that correlates to a thicker eastern Indian Ocean mixed layer and upwelling in the eastern Pacific, implying a simultaneous response across the tropics to strengthening Walker Circulation. Published δ 13 C PC values from the same pedogenic carbonate nodules indicate that C 4 vegetation abundances increased beginning at ~2.0 Ma, also suggesting climatic drying. Spectral analysis of the δ 13 C PC time series provides weaker evidence of orbital forcing as compared to the δ 18 O PC time series, particularly for long orbital eccentricity (405 kyr) and climatic precession (~20 kyr), suggesting other factors, such as feeding ecology of herbivores or global greenhouse gas, may have contributed to the vegetation patterns. The climatic precession component to the δ 18 O PC time series increases amplitude through strengthening Walker Circulation, which may signal a change in the intensity of interannual climate events. No indications were observed to suggest that the Plio-Pleistocene Northern Hemisphere glaciation resonated as either climatic cyclicity or an abrupt, stepwise shift in the regional hydroclimate. At major junctures of hominin evolution, including the origins of different genera and the earliest stone tools, environmental variability derived from the orbital forcing of the monsoon appears to have been low. However, we propose that at 2.11-1.66 Ma, directional aridity coupled with interannual climate events presented a new adaptive context where Homo erectus and Acheulian stone tools first appeared in eastern Africa.

Plio-Pleistocene facies environments from the KBS Member, Koobi Fora Formation: implications for climate controls on the development of lake-margin hominin habitats in the northeast Turkana Basin (northwest Kenya)

Journal of Human Evolution, Nov 1, 2007

Climate change is hypothesized as a cause of major events of Plio-Pleistocene East African homini... more Climate change is hypothesized as a cause of major events of Plio-Pleistocene East African hominin evolution, but the vertically discontinuous and laterally confined nature of the relevant geological records has led to difficulties with assessing probable links between the two. Highresolution sedimentary sequences from lacustrine settings can provide comprehensive data of environmental changes and detailed correlations with well-established orbital and marine records of climate. Hominin-bearing deposits from Koobi Fora Ridge localities in the northeast Turkana Basin of Kenya are an archive of Plio-Pleistocene lake-margin sedimentation though significant developmental junctures of northern African climates, East African environments, and hominin evolution. This study examines alluvial channel and floodplain, nearshore lacustrine, and offshore lacustrine facies environments for the approximately 136-m-thick KBS Member (Koobi Fora Formation) exposed at the Koobi Fora Ridge. Aspects of the facies environments record information on the changing hydrosedimentary dynamics of the lake margin and give insights into potential climatic controls. Seasonal/yearly climate changes are represented by the varve-like laminations in offshore mudstones and the slickensides, dish-shaped fractures, and other paleosol features overprinted on floodplain strata. Vertical shifts between facies environments, however, are interpreted to indicate lake-level fluctuations deriving from longer-term, dry-wet periods in monsoonal rainfall. Recurrence periods for the inferred lake-level changes range from about 10,000 to 50,000 years, and several are consistent with the average estimated timescales of orbital precession (w20,000 years) and obliquity (w40,000 years). KBS Member facies environments from the Koobi Fora Ridge document the development of lake-margin hominin habitats in the northeast Turkana Basin. Environmental changes in these habitats may be a result of monsoonal rainfall variations that derive from orbital insolation and/or glacial forcing.

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C4 plant food loss probably influenced Paranthropus boisei's extinction: A reply to Patterson et al.'s commentary on Quinn and Lepre (2021)

Journal of Human Evolution, Dec 1, 2022

Stratigraphy, correlation, and age estimates for fossils from Area 123, Koobi Fora

Journal of Human Evolution, Aug 1, 2009

Geological data from the Bura Hasuma region at Koobi Fora provide important constraints for estim... more Geological data from the Bura Hasuma region at Koobi Fora provide important constraints for estimating the ages of hominin fossils recovered there, including the cranium KNM-ER 1813. Strata of the upper Burgi, KBS, and Okote members in this part of Koobi Fora reflect three depositional regimes driven by changing paleogeography through time. The upper Burgi and lowermost KBS sequence in the southern Bura Hasuma region accumulated in a lacustrine to delta front setting, with highly localized depositional patterns, limiting the lateral extent of lithostratigraphic markers. Farther north, uppermost upper Burgi through KBS member strata document a fluctuating lake margin, with complex facies patterns. This interval is marked by laterally extensive lithostratigraphic markers, including molluscan packstones, beach sandstones, and stromatolite beds. The uppermost KBS and Okote members show a transition to dominantly fluvial character, with localized and discontinuous accumulation. An age model for the richly fossiliferous Area 123 sequence demonstrates the complexity of terrestrial accumulation patterns. Early lacustrine and delta front accumulation is marked by fairly continuous sedimentation, and high accumulation rates (up to ca. 91 cm/k.yr.). The fluctuating lake margin interval reflects lower sedimentation rates coupled with intervals of exposure, decreasing accumulation significantly (to ca. 13 cm/k.yr.). The capping fluvial interval is marked by significant erosion surfaces, breaks which may drop the overall accumulation rate even lower (ca. 0.3 cm/k.yr.). The data provided here establish a geological framework at odds with a recent proposal of ages considerably younger (by ca. 250 k.yr.) for many of the fossils from Area 123 and elsewhere. Tests of age models demonstrate that the younger ages are not possible. While minor refinements to age estimates for fossils are indicated by improved chronostratigraphic control, in the case of KNM-ER 1813, an age of younger than 1.78 Ma is precluded on magnetostratigraphic grounds.

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Little Ice Age to modern lake-level fluctuations from Ferguson's Gulf, Lake Turkana, Kenya, based on sedimentology and ostracod assemblages

Quaternary Research, Feb 1, 2021

Lacustrine sedimentary records and the proxies contained within them are valuable archives of pas... more Lacustrine sedimentary records and the proxies contained within them are valuable archives of past climate. However, the resolution of these records is frequently coarse or contains a high degree of uncertainty, making it difficult to resolve how climatic variability impacts the ecosystems on which humans depend. The goal of this study is to couple recent sediment cores sampled at centimeter-scale resolution with paleo- and historical information about lake levels to document how changes in the paleoenvironment impact the paleoecology of a rift basin lake. We present multiproxy data from three short cores collected from Ferguson's Gulf (FG), a shallow embayment connected to the western shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Five distinct biozones were interpreted on the basis of ostracods and geochemistry (δ18O, δ13C, and major elements), spanning the Little Ice Age (LIA) to the modern. Overall, ostracod total abundance and assemblage diversity decreased up-core, with the largest total abundance and genera diversity occurring during the LIA. This fits with regional datasets that indicate the Eastern Branch of the East African Rift System was wetter during the LIA than it is today. This also suggests that human impact in and around Lake Turkana has weakened the resiliency of the ecosystems in FG.

Revisiting the pedogenic carbonate isotopes and paleoenvironmental interpretation of Kanapoi

Journal of Human Evolution, Mar 1, 2020

Reconstructed habitats of Australopithecus anamensis at Kanapoi by Wynn (2000) yielded evidence f... more Reconstructed habitats of Australopithecus anamensis at Kanapoi by Wynn (2000) yielded evidence for both wooded and grassy environments. Wynn's study was based on stable isotopic (d 13 C PC , d 18 O PC) analyses of a small sample of pedogenic nodules (n ¼ 14) collected from paleosols spanning Kanapoi's stratigraphic interval. Whether this small sample size adequately characterized Kanapoi's vegetation or was the result of time averaging remains unclear. To address this uncertainty, we sampled Kanapoi paleosols at 39 locations (78 analyses) from laterally extensive units. Our data demonstrate that Kanapoi offered A. anamensis diverse habitats distributed in temporally discrete stratigraphic horizons. Habitat heterogeneity appears to have been a real aspect of Kanapoi paleoenvironments and not an artifact of Wynn's (2000) small sample size or time averaging. We suggest habitat heterogeneity was influenced by the location of Kanapoi at the confluence of fluvial, deltaic, and lacustrine depositional environments. We also compared Kanapoi's d 13 C PC and d 18 O PC values to those of other Pliocene hominin localities in eastern Africa dated to 4.5e3.7 Ma. Kanapoi's d 18 O PC values are significantly higher than most sites, potentially reflecting regional variability in water source d 18 O values and/or more arid climatic conditions. Kanapoi's d 13 C PC values indicate significantly more woody cover than at all other sites except those in the Turkana Basin. Kanapoi provided A. anamensis with a wide range of C 3 eC 4 resources as the C 4 biome spread across eastern Africa. [Wynn, J.G., 2000. Paleosols, stable carbon isotopes and paleoenvironmental interpretation of Kanapoi, Northern Kenya. J. Hum. Evol. 39, 411e432.]

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Paleogeographic variations of pedogenic carbonate δ13C values from Koobi Fora, Kenya: implications for floral compositions of Plio-Pleistocene hominin environments

Journal of Human Evolution, Nov 1, 2007

Plio-Pleistocene East African grassland expansion and faunal macroevolution, including that of ou... more Plio-Pleistocene East African grassland expansion and faunal macroevolution, including that of our own lineage, are attributed to global climate change. To further understand environmental factors of early hominin evolution, we reconstruct the paleogeographic distribution of vegetation (C 3-C 4 pathways) by stable carbon isotope (d 13 C) analysis of pedogenic carbonates from the Plio-Pleistocene Koobi Fora region, northeast Lake Turkana Basin, Kenya. We analyzed 202 nodules (530 measurements) from ten paleontological/archaeological collecting areas spanning environments over a 50-km 2 area. We compared results across subregions in evolving fluviolacustrine depositional environments in the Koobi Fora Formation from 2.0e1.5 Ma, a stratigraphic interval that temporally brackets grassland ascendancy in East Africa. Significant differences in d 13 C values between subregions are explained by paleogeographic controls on floral composition and distribution. Our results indicate grassland expansion between 2.0 and 1.75 Ma, coincident with major shifts in basin-wide sedimentation and hydrology. Hypotheses may be correct in linking Plio-Pleistocene hominin evolution to environmental changes from global climate; however, based on our results, we interpret complexity from proximate forces that mitigated basin evolution. An w2.5 Ma tectonic event in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya exerted strong effects on paleography in the Turkana Basin from 2.0e1.5 Ma, contributing to the shift from a closed, lacustrine basin to one dominated by open, fluvial conditions. We propose basin transformation decreased residence time for Omo River water and expanded subaerial floodplain landscapes, ultimately leading to reduced proportions of wooded floras and the establishment of habitats suitable for grassland communities.

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A multi-proxy approach to understanding Late Pleistocene Eastern African paleoenvironments at archaeological sites in Kenya and Tanzania

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2018

Further context of the 3.3 Ma archaeological assemblage from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Sep 14, 2016

Trace element evidence for trophic level in extant mammals from Laikipia, Kenya: implications for eastern African fossil hominin diet reconstructions

Trace element analysis (Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca) has been utilized to gauge diet in fossil hominins. Biopuri... more Trace element analysis (Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca) has been utilized to gauge diet in fossil hominins. Biopurification of trace elements relative to calcium at higher trophic levels results in lower ratios in carnivorous mammals than in herbivores. Previous work characterizing South African ecosystems has been used to infer meat consumption in Australopithecus and Paranthropus. Trace element ratios have not yet been reported from modern or fossil eastern African modern ecosystems. Prior to the application to eastern African fossils, a study of eastern African extant mammals from modern ecosystems with analogous floral and faunal community structures as Plio-Pleistocene habitats is warranted. In this study, I analyzed Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca from bulk enamel of 92 individuals representing 32 extant mammal species with known feeding ecologies from the Laikipia District, Kenya. Diet categories include C4 grazers, C3 browsers, mixed C3-C4 herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. I found that Sr/Ca ratios of c...

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Oxygen isotopic correlates of diet and drinking behavior in extant mammals from Laikipia, Kenya: implications for gauging Pliocene Turkana hominin paleoecology

Environmental changes at the root of human origins: mammalian and pedogenic carbonate isotopic evidence for the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period in the Turkana Basin

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How Much Time is Recorded with a Rib Bone Isotope?