Hair, which grows incrementally, can preserve a sequential dietary record that allows researchers to trace dietary changes over months.

Tooth enamel, which forms during childhood and does not remodel after formation, preserves a permanent record of the diet during the years when those teeth were developing.

The isotopic analysis of Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi’s tissues told a complex and fascinating story.

The results indicated a diet with a substantial marine component — a signature consistent with someone who ate significant quantities of salmon, other anadromous fish, or marine food.

This marine signature was present in tissues that built up over extended periods, not just in the stomach contents that represented his last few days.