Soru

While traditional archaeological models posited that the transition to sedentary agriculture in the early Holocene Fertile Crescent triggered an immediate, uniform deterioration in human health, recent isotopic and paleopathological analysis of human remains from the site of Tell Qarassa presents a more nuanced narrative. By evaluating carbon ($\delta^{13}\text{C}$) and nitrogen ($\delta^{15}\text{C}$) stable isotope ratios in tooth enamel—which captures diet during childhood crown development—alongside those in cortical bone collagen, which reflects adult diet over the decade prior to death, researchers isolated intra-individual dietary shifts. The data revealed that during the early PPNB (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) period, juvenile diets maintained high proportions of wild game and gathered legumes, whereas adult bone collagen exhibited a marked enrichment in $\delta^{13}\text{C}$ values consistent with a heavy reliance on cultivated C3 cereals like emmer wheat. Significantly, paleopathological scoring showed that linear enamel hypoplasia—an indicator of acute systemic physiological stress during tooth formation—was exceptionally low in individuals whose childhood isotopic profiles matched wild foraging baselines. Contrary to earlier assumptions that agricultural intensification exposed children to early nutritional stress, physiological distress at Tell Qarassa manifested primarily during the late adolescent transition to cereal-dominated adult diets, as recorded by Harris lines in long-bone metaphyses.

According to the passage, which of the following is explicitly stated regarding juveniles during the early PPNB period at Tell Qarassa?