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Margaret J. Schoeninger

Professor Margaret J. Schoeninger received her B.A. from the University of Florida, her M.A. from the University of Cincinnati, and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She has held positions in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles, in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and in the Departments of Anthropology at Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin.

Her research centers on subsistence strategies with applications to behavior and ecology in anthropological contexts. She has participated in archaeological, paleontological, and ethnographic fieldwork projects in North America, MesoAmerica, Pakistan, India, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Her laboratory analyzes carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotope ratios in various organic materials including hair, bone collagen and bone carbonate for diet and ecology reconstruction.

In rev Stable isotope evidence for summer rains during Neandertal occupation at Amud cave, Israel. Hallin KA, Schoeninger MJ, Schwarcz HP. Submitted to: Journal of Human Evolution. In review.
In prep Herbivore stable carbon isotope values in Australia under different humidity and dietary regimes. F.D. Pate and M.J. Schoeninger. For submission to Paleogeography, Paleoecology, Paleoclimate.
2010 Effect of diet and protein source on carbon stable isotope ratios in collagen: follow up to Warinner and Tuross 2009. AW Froehle, CM Kellner, and MJ SchoeningerJournal of Archaeological Science37: 2662-2670. Please click here for the PDF version
2010 Diet at Pecos Pueblo: The stable isotope evidence. Kellner, C.M., Spielmann, K., Moore, K. and Schoeninger, MJ. In: Morgan, M. (ed.) Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University Volume 84. Spring 2007.
2009 Stable Isotope Evidence for the Adoption of Maize Agriculture. MJ SchoeningerCurrent Anthropology 50(5): 633-640. Please click here for the PDF version
2009 13C values reflect aspects of fossil primate ecology. M.J. Schoeninger. For inclusion in: J.J. Hublin and M.P. Richards (eds.).The Evolution of Human Diet. Springer: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. Please click here for the PDF version
2008 Wari’s imperial influence on local Nasca diet: The stable isotope evidence. C.M. Kellner and M.J. SchoeningerJournal of AnthropologicalArchaeology 27:226-243. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2007.12.003. Please click here for the PDF version
2007 Reconstructing early hominid diets: Evaluating Tooth Chemistry and Macronutrient Composition In: The Evolution of Hominid Diets: The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable. Ungar, P. (ed.), Oxford University Press. pp. 150-164.
2007 A simple carbon isotope model for reconstructing prehistoric human diet. Kellner, C.M. and M.J. SchoeningerAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology 133:1112-1127. DOI 10.1002/ajpa.20618.Please click here for the PDF version
2006 Population inferences from bone chemistry. In: Environment, Origins, and Population, Vol. 3, Handbook of North American IndiansUbelaker D. (ed.), Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 640-645.
2006 Intraspecies variation in BMR does not affect estimates of early hominin total daily energy expenditure. A. W. Froehle and M.J. SchoeningerAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology131(4):552-559. Please click here for the PDF version
2003 Schoeninger MJ, Reeser H and Hallin KA. Paleoenvironment ofAustralopithecus anamensis at Allia Bay, East Turkana, Kenya: evidence from mammalian herbivore enamel stable isotopes.Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 22:200-207. Please click here for the PDF version
2003 Schoeninger MJ, Hallin KA, Reeser H. , JW. Valley and Fournelle, J. Isotopic alteration of mammalian tooth enamel. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 13:11-19. Please click here for the PDF version
2002 Larsen CS, Crosby AW, Griffin MC, Hutchinson DL, Ruff CB, Russell KF, Schoeninger MJ, Sering LE, Simpson SW, Takacs JL and Teaford MF A biohistory of health and behavior in the Georgia Bight. In: Steckel RH and Rose JC (eds) The Backbone Of History: Health And Nutrition In The Western Hemisphere. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. Pp. 406-439.
2001 Schoeninger MJ, Murray S, Bunn HT, Marlett JA. Composition of tubers used by Hadza foragers of Tanzania. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 14:15-25. Please click here for the PDF version
Murray S, Schoeninger MJ, Bunn HT, Pickering TR and Marlett JA. Nutritional composition of some wild plant foods and honey used by Hadza foragers of Tanzania. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 14:3-13. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ, Bunn HT, Murray S, Pickering TR, and Moore J. Meat eating by the fourth African ape. In: Stanford C and Bunn HT (eds.) The Early Hominid Diet: The Role of Meat. Oxford University Press.
Schurr MR and Schoeninger MJ. Stable Isotope Evidence for Wickliffe Subsistence Practices. In: Wesler KW (ed.), WickliffeMounds, 1932-1990: A Mississippian Town in Western Kentucky.
Larsen CS, Griffin MC, Hutchinson DL, Noble VE, Norr L, Pastor RE, Ruff CH, Russell KE, Schoeninger MJ, Schulty M, Simpson SW, and Teaford MF. Frontiers of contact: Bioarchaeology of Spanish Florida.Journal of World Prehistory 15:69-123. Please click here for the PDF version
2000 Schoeninger MJ, Kohn MJ, and John W. Valley JW. Tooth oxygen isotope ratios as paleoclimate monitors in arid ecosystems. In: Ambrose SH and Katzenberg MA (eds) Biogeochemical Approaches To Paleodietary Analysis in ArchaeologyAdvances in Archaeological and Museum Science Plenum Press. Vol. 5 pp. 117-140.
1999 Kohn MJ, Schoeninger MJ, William W. Barker. Altered states: effects of diagenesis on fossil tooth chemistry. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta, 63 (18): 2737-2747. Please click here for the PDF version
Larsen CS, Schoeninger MJ, and Hutchinson DL. Food and stable isotopes in La Florida: Diet and nutrition before and after contact. In: Larsen CS (ed.) Bioarchaeology of La Florida: Human Biology in Northern Frontier New Spain. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Schoeninger MJ, Moore J, and Sept J. Subsistence strategies of two 'savanna' chimpanzee populations: stable isotope evidence.American Journal of Primatology. 49:297-314. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ. Prehistoric subsistence strategies in the Stillwater Marsh region of the Carson Desert. In: Brian E. Hemphill and Clark Larsen (eds.) UnderstandingPrehistoric Lifeways in the Great Basin Wetlands: Bioarchaeological Reconstruction and Interpretation. University of Utah Press, pp. 151-166.
Schoeninger MJ, Sattenspiel L, and Schurr MR. Transitions at Moundville: A question of collapse. In: Patricia M. Lambert (ed.),Bioarchaeological Studies Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture, University of Alabama Press, pp. 78-95.
Hutchinson DL, Larsen CS, Norr L, and Schoeninger MJ. Agricultural melodies and alternative harmonies in Florida and Georgia. In: Lambert PM (ed.) Bioarchaeological Studies Studies of Life in the Age of Agriculture, University of Alabama Press, and pp. 96-115.
1998 Kohn MJ, Schoeninger MJ, Valley. JW. Variability in oxygen isotope compositions of herbivore teeth: reflections of seasonality or developmental physiology? Chemical Geology 152:97-112. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ, Iwaniec UT, and Nash LT. Ecological attributes recorded in stable isotope ratios of arboreal prosimian hair.Oecologia 113:222-230. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ and Schurr MR. Human subsistence at Moundville: The stable isotope data. In: Knight VJ, Jr. and Steponaitis VP (eds.)Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom. Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 120-132.
Iwaniec UT, Crenshaw TB, Schoeninger MJ, Stout SD, and Ericksen MF. Methods for improving the efficiency of estimating total osteon density in the human anterior mid-diaphyseal femur. The American Journal of Physical Anthropology 107:13-24. Please click here for the PDF version
Hutchinson DL, Larsen CS, Schoeninger MJ, and Norr L. Regional variation in the pattern of maize adoption and use in Florida and Georgia. American Antiquity 63:397-416. Please click here for the PDF version
1997 Schoeninger MJ, Iwaniec UT, and Glander KE. Stable isotope ratios monitor diet and habitat use in New World monkeys. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 103:69-83. Please click here for the PDF version
1996 Kohn MJ, Schoeninger MJ, and Valley JW. Herbivore tooth oxygen isotope compositions: effects of diet and physiology. Geochimica et Cosmoschimica Acta. 60(20): 3889-3896. Please click here for the PDF version
Larsen CS, Kelly RL, Ruff CB, Schoeninger MJ, and Hutchinson DL. Biobehavioral Adaptations in the Western Great Basin. In: Reitz RJ, Newson LA, and Scudder SJ (eds.) Case Studies in Environmental Archaeology, Plenum Press, New York. pp. 149-174.
1995 Schoeninger MJ. Stable isotope studies in human evolution.Evolutionary Anthropology 4(3): 83-98. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ. Dietary reconstruction in the prehistoric Carson Desert: stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis. In: Larsen CS and Kelly RL (eds.) Bioarchaeology Of The Stillwater Marsh: Prehistoric Human Adaptation In The Western Great Basin. American Museum Of Natural History, Anthropological Papers, Number 77, pp. 96-106.
Schurr MR and Schoeninger MJ. Associations between agriculture intensification and social complexity: an example from the prehistoric Ohio Valley. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 14:315-339. Please click here for the PDF version
Larsen CS, Craig J, Sering LE, Schoeninger MJ, Russell KF, Hutchinson DL, and Williamson MA. Cross Homestead: Life and Death on the Midwestern Frontier. In: Grauer AL (ed) Bodies of Evidence: Reconstructing History Through Skeletal Analysis. Wiley-Liss, New York. pp.129-160.
1994 Schoeninger MJ and Schurr MR. Interpreting carbon stable isotope ratios. In: Johannessen S and Hastorf CA(eds.) Corn and Culture In The Prehistoric New World. Westview Press pp. 55-66.
Mauche J, Levendosky A, and Schoeninger MJ. Antelope Creek Phase Subsistence: The Bone Chemistry Evidence. In: Owsley, D.W. and R.L. Jantz (eds.) Skeletal Biology in The Great Plains: Migration, Warfare, Health, and Subsistence. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.
1993 Pate D and Schoeninger MJ. Stable carbon isotope ratios in bone collagen as indicators of marine and terrestrial dietary composition in southeastern South Australia: A preliminary report. In: Frankhauser BL and Bird JR (eds) Archaeometry: Current Australiasian Research. Occasional Papers in Prehistory, No. 22:38-44, Australian National University Press, Canberra.
1992 Larsen CS, Ruff CB, Schoeninger MJ, and Hutchinson DL. Population Decline and Extinction in La Florida. In: Verano, J.W. and D.H. Ubelaker (eds.) Disease and Demography in the Americas. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington pp. 25-40.
Larsen CS, Schoeninger MJ, van der Merwe NJ, Moore KM, and Lee-Thorp JA. Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotopic Signatures of Human Dietary Change in the Georgia Bight. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 89(2): 197-214. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ. Heavy Atom Isotope Ratios in Bone as Guides to Prehistoric Diets. In: Isotopes in Organic Chemistry Vol. 8, HeavyAtom Isotope Effects. Buncel E and Saunders WH Jr. (eds.) Elsevier Science Publishers pp. 191-237.
Schoeninger MJ and Moore KM. Bone Stable Isotope Studies in Archaeology. J. of World Prehistory 6(2): 247-296. Please click here for the PDF version
1991 Schwarcz HP and Schoeninger MJ. Stable Isotope Analyses In Human Nutritional ecology. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology34:283-321. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ. Anthropology: carbon stable isotope ratios.McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology 1991. McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, pp. 16-18.
1990 Spielmann K, Schoeninger MJ, and Moore K. Plains/Pueblo Interdependence: Human Diet at Pecos Pueblo, New Mexico.American Antiquity 55(4): 745-765. Please click here for the PDF version
Larsen CS, Schoeninger MJ, Shavit R, and Russell KF. Dietary and Demographic Transitions on the Southeastern U.S. Atlantic Coast.International Journal of Anthropology 5(4): 333-346.
Schoeninger MJ, van der Merwe NJ, Moore KM, and Lee-Thorp J. Decrease in Diet Quality Between the Prehistoric and the Contact Period on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia. In: Postcontact Biocultural Adaptation of Native American Populations on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia. C.S. Larsen (ed.). Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 68:78-93.
Larsen CS, Schoeninger MJ, Hutchinson D, Russell DK, and Ruff C. Beyond Demographic Collapse: Biological Adaptation and Change in Native Populations of La Florida. Columbian Consequences: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives on the Spanish Borderlands East, David Hurst Thomas (ed.), Volume ll, Smithsonian Press pp. 409-428.
1989 Bada JL, Schoeninger MJ and Schimmelmann A. Isotopic Fractionation During Peptide Bond Hydrolysis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 53:3337-3341. Please click here for the PDF version
Moore KM, Murray ML and Schoeninger MJ. Dietary Reconstruction from Bones Treated with Preservatives. Journal of Archaeological Science, 16(4): 437-446. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ, Moore KM, Murray ML and Kingston JD. Detection of Bone Preservation in Archaeological and Fossil Samples. Applied Geochemistry 4(3): 281-292. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ. Prehistoric Human Diet. In: Chemistry of Prehistoric Human Bone, T.D. Price (ed.). Cambridge University Press, pp. 38-67.
Grupe G, Piepenbrink H., and Schoeninger MJ. Note on Microbial Influence on Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in Bone. Applied Geochemistry 4(3): 299-300. Please click here for the PDF version
1988 Murray M and Schoeninger MJ. Diet, Status, and Complex Social Structure in Iron Age Central Europe: Some Contributions of Bone Chemistry. In: Tribe and Polity in Late Prehistoric Europe, B. Gibson and M. Geselowitz (eds.). Plenum Pub. Co., New York, pp. 155-176.
1987 Schoeninger MJ. Reconstructing Prehistoric Human Diet. Homo39(2): 78-99.
1986 Nelson BK, DeNiro MJ, Schoeninger MJ and DePaolo DJ. Diagenetic Effects on the 87Sr/86Sr, 13C/12C, 15N/14N, and 18O/16O Composition of Bone: Consequences for Dietary Reconstruction. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 50:1941-1949. Please click here for the PDF version
1985 Price TD, Schoeninger MJ and Armelagos GJ. Bone Chemistry and Past Human Behavior: An Overview. Journal of Human Evolution14:419-447. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ. Trophic Level Effects on 15N/14N and 13C/12C Ratios in Bone Collagen and Strontium Levels in Bone Mineral.Journal of Human Evolution 14:515-525. Please click here for the PDF version
DeNiro MJ, Schoeninger MJ, and Hastorf. CA Effect of Heating on the Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Ratios of Bone Collagen.Journal of Archaeological Science 12:1-7. Please click here for the PDF version
1984 Shipman P, Foster G, and Schoeninger MJ. Burnt Bones and Teeth: An Experimental Study of Color, Morphology, and Shrinkage.Journal of Archaeological Science 11:307-325. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ and DeNiro MJ. Nitrogen and Carbon Isotopic Composition of Bone Collagen in Marine and Terrestrial Vertebrates.Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48:625-639. Please click here for the PDF version
1983 DeNiro MJ and Schoeninger MJ. Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Ratios of Bone Collagen: Variations within Individuals, Between Sexes, and Within Populations Raised on Monotonous Diet. Journal of Archaeological Science 10(3):199-203. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ, DeNiro MJ and Tauber H. 15N/14N Ratios of Bone Collagen Reflect Marine and Terrestrial Components of Prehistoric Diets. Science 220:1381-1383. Please click here for the PDF version
1982 Schoeninger MJ. Diet and the Evolution of Modern Human Form in the Middle East. American Journal of Physical Anthropology58(1):37-52. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ and DeNiro MJ. Carbon Isotope Ratios of Apatite from Fossil Bone Cannot be Used to Reconstruct Diets of Animals. Nature 297:577-578. Please click here for the PDF version
Peebles CS, Schoeninger MJ, Steponaitis V and Scarry M. A Precious Bequest: Contemporary Research with the WPA-CCC Collections from Moundville, Alabama. Annals New York Academy of Sciences 433-447. Please click here for the PDF version
1981 Schoeninger MJ and Peebles CS. Effect of Mollusk Eating on Human Bone Strontium Levels. Journal of Archaeological Science8:391-397. Please click here for the PDF version
Schoeninger MJ. The Agricultural "Revolution": Its Effect on Human Diet in Prehistoric Iran and Israel. Paleorient 7:73-92. Please click here for the PDF version
Peebles CS and Schoeninger MJ. Notes on the Relationship Between Social Status and Diet at Moundville. Southeastern Archeological Conference Bulletin 24:96-97.
1979 Schoeninger MJ. Diet and Status at Chalcatzingo: Some Empirical and Technical Aspects of Strontium Analysis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 51(3):295-309. Please click here for the PDF version
Gingerich PD and Schoeninger MJ. Patterns of Tooth Size Variability in the Dentition of Primates. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 51(3):457-465. Please click here for the PDF version
1977 Gingerich PD and Schoeninger MJ. The Fossil Record and Primate Phylogeny. Journal of Human Evolution 6(5):483-505. Please click here for the PDF version
1972 Taylor S, Schoeninger MJ, and Shelor N. Nutritional Ecology: A New Perspective. Lambda Alpha 4(1):47-60.

Margaret J. Schoeninger