The isotope data from the Spirit Cave remains were consistent with a diet that included significant amounts of protein from freshwater fish — likely from the extensive wetland systems of ancient Lake Lahontan, which would have been rich in fish at the time.

This made immediate ecological sense: the cave’s proximity to the ancient lake margin, and the richness of the wetland ecosystem that characterized the region during the early Holocene, meant that fish would have been an important food source for anyone living in the area.

The analysis also showed evidence of terrestrial food sources — the large and small game animals, plant foods, and other resources of the upland Great Basin environment.

This combination of aquatic and terrestrial diet was consistent with what archaeologists understood about the subsistence strategies of early Great Basin peoples, who were typically mobile hunter-gatherers exploiting the full range of their diverse landscape’s resources.