Comparing apples and oranges: Why infant bone collagen may not reflect dietary intake in the same way as dentine collagen (original) (raw)
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Estimating weaning and early childhood diet from serial micro-samples of dentin collagen
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2011
Age of weaning is an important measure of parental investment, and in various human and non-human primate studies, has been correlated with a range of developmental factors such as stature, cognitive functions, obesity, ability to cope with stress, and rates of disease. Archaeological estimation of the age of weaning is generally at the population level, raising a number of challenges in using such data to test anthropological theory. We describe a method that allows estimation of age of weaning at the individual level, based on the measurement of stable nitrogen isotope ratios in serial sections of first molar dentin collagen. We apply this microsampling technique to a sample of individuals from CA-CCO-548, a well-studied and ancient site on the banks of Marsh Creek in Central California. Results show great variation between individuals in both the age at which solid food was introduced, the termination of breastfeeding, and the source of early childhood foods.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
In this study, bulk bone collagen carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope data from 49 individuals, recovered from two Medieval burial grounds in Hereford, England, are coupled with incremental dentine data from five individuals with high δ 15 N bone values who survived into old age, to see whether the high δ 15 N values were consistent throughout their childhood and adolescence. There are statistically insignificant differences between mean bone δ 13 C and δ 15 N values from the two Hereford populations, exhumed at Cathedral Close and St. Guthlac's Priory, despite temporal and demographic differences (St Guthlac's mean: δ 13 C-19.4 ± 0.5‰ and δ 15 N 10.9 ± 1.2‰. Hereford Cathedral mean: δ 13 C-19.6 ± 0.4‰ and δ 15 N 10.4 ± 0.9‰, 1σ). In comparison to other contemporary urban populations, the Hereford individuals present significantly lower but more variable δ 15 N values, suggesting a diet low in protein from high trophic level foods such as meat and milk, possibly the result of differing social status or geographic factors. The approximately 23-year long incremental dentine profiles all show considerable fluctuation in stable isotope values during childhood and adolescence for all individuals until around age 20, suggesting possible influence by physiological processes related to growth and development.
Annals of human biology, 2015
Stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ(13)C) and nitrogen (δ(15)N) in bone and dentine collagen have been used for over 30 years to estimate palaeodiet, subsistence strategy, breastfeeding duration and migration within burial populations. Recent developments in dentine microsampling allow improved temporal resolution for dietary patterns. A simple method is proposed which could be applied to human teeth to estimate chronological age represented by dentine microsamples in the direction of tooth growth, allowing comparison of dietary patterns between individuals and populations. The method is tested using profiles from permanent and deciduous teeth of two individuals. Using a diagrammatic representation of dentine development by approximate age for each human tooth (based on the Queen Mary University of London Atlas), this study estimated the age represented by each dentine section. Two case studies are shown: comparison of M1 and M2 from a 19th century individual from London, England, an...
Here we present a novel method which allows the measurement of the stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) from much smaller samples of dentine than previously possible without affecting the quality parameters. The reconstruction of the diet of past populations using isotopic analysis of bone collagen is a well-established tool. However, because of remodelling of bone throughout life, this gives a blurred picture of the diet. The analysis of δ13C and δ15N from tiny increments of dentine utilizes tissue that does not remodel and permits comparison, at the same age, of those who survived infancy with those who did not at high temporal resolution. This new method has been tested on archaeological teeth from two sites: three molar teeth from the 19th Century Kilkenny Union Workhouse Famine cemetery, Ireland; and three from the Anglian (5-7th centuries AD) cemetery at West Heslerton, Yorkshire, England, selected on the basis of their varied preservation. The methods of...
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2018
The Rioja Alavesa region of north-central Spain witnessed great demographic pressure and social unrest, manifested as widespread violent conflict, during the Late Neolithic (ca. 3500-2900 cal BC). Drawing upon the ethnographic literature, it is possible that this situation impacted upon child-rearing practices, both through food shortages and differential parental investment, favoring male infants. Here, carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) stable isotope measurements from bone collagen of 17 juveniles and from 163 serial microsamples of dentine from first and second molars of seven adults from the site of Alto de la Huesera are used to examine breastfeeding, weaning and childhood diets. Bone and dentine collagen δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope values both decrease from infancy to early childhood and increase slightly towards adolescence, but dentine provides a more time-sensitive means of monitoring dietary changes. High δ 13 C and δ 15 N values compatible with exclusive breastfeeding are detected up to ca. 1 year, with a significantly shorter duration among males, suggesting differential sex-related parental strategies from infancy. This is tentative given the small number of individuals being compared, but does suggest that further work would be worthwhile. A gradual decline in both δ 13 C and δ 15 N, compatible with the weaning process, is then observed up to ca. 4 years in both sexes. This delayed cessation of nursing is interpreted as a possible response to food shortage. With regard to post-weaning patterns, shifts to lower δ 13 C and 2 δ 15 N values in females at around age 9-11, and a general progressive increase in both isotope values from childhood to adolescence, are detected. These could be linked either with differential protein intake due to social age-related nutritional practices or to physiological demand. The comparison between bone and dentine values shows differences between survivors and non-survivors in both isotopes, so that assessments based on deceased children may be biased by their potentially compromised health status.
Nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen has been used to reconstruct the breastfeeding practices of archaeological human populations. However, weaning ages have been estimated subjectively because of a lack of both information on subadult bone collagen turnover rates and appropriate analytical models. Here, we present a model for analyzing cross-sectional delta-15N data of subadult bone collagen, which incorporates newly estimated bone collagen turnover rates and a framework of approximate Bayesian computation. Temporal changes in human subadult bone collagen turnover rates were estimated anew from data on tissue-level bone metabolism reported in previous studies. A model for reconstructing precise weaning ages was then developed and incorporating the estimated turnover rates. The model is presented as a new open source R package, WARN (Weaning Age Reconstruction with Nitrogen isotope analysis), which computes the age at the start and end of weaning, 15N-enrichment through matern...
The principal aim of this work is to investigate whether protein sources in human diets in early Anglo-Saxon (5th-7th century AD) England varied with geographic location, or with respect to age or sex. The methodology used was analysis of δ15N and δ13C in human bone collagen from 76 adult skeletons from a total of 18 different cemeteries located in inland, riverine and coastal environments. In order to control for the possible effects of socio-economic status on diet, only high status individuals, as identified by grave goods, were studied. Data were analysed using statistical manipulation of the raw results and using IsoSource (), a mathematical treatment which models the composition of the protein part of human diets using bone stable isotope ratios when the isotopic values for potential protein sources are known or can reasonably be inferred. The results suggest that protein sources varied little according to geographic location and that terrestrial foods dominated at all locations. However there were some subtle patterns. Slightly elevated δ13C in skeletons from coastal locations, and δ15N in those from riverine sites may indicate that communities in these locations made greater use of marine and freshwater resources respectively. If this is correct then it demonstrates that 5th-7th century communities made some use of wild resources even within a predominantly agrarian economy. In general the analysis of the raw data and the IsoSource results were mutually supportive, and this work demonstrates the value of this twin-pronged approach to analysis of human bone stable isotope data.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2014
Intra-tooth stable isotope analysis of dentine provides a more sensitive means to examine infant and childhood life history in the past than conventional cross-sectional analyses that rely on age-atdeath. In addition, reconstructions of early diet and life history using an intra-tooth approach circumvent potential problems associated with mortality bias, which may operate strongly during infancy and childhood. We present new intra-tooth stable carbon and nitrogen isotope profiles in dentine collagen of early forming permanent teeth in a sample of adults from the Medieval Nubian site of Kulubnarti. We interpret the profiles in terms of weaning behavior and dietary history, and we compare profiles generated from first molars and canines to explore the degree to which these tooth types correspond. We then compare the profiles to the occurrence of linear enamel hypoplasia to assess the relationship between the timing of the weaning process and stress events. Finally, we compare the longitudinal profiles to cross-sectional stable isotope data obtained from rib collagen to investigate how life histories might differ between those that survived into adulthood and those that did not. Results suggest that canine and first molar profiles are in broad agreement, that hypoplastic stress events occurred during rather than before or after the weaning process in our sample, and that survivors appear to have weaned earlier than the average nonsurvivor. We suggest that this approach may be useful for addressing the effects of selective mortality on reconstructions of early life history and the relationship between early life history and morbidity. Am J Phys Anthropol 155:281-293, importance of dietary quality vs quantity to the growth of Mexican children. Food Nutr Bull 13:95-104. Balasse M, Bocherens H, Mariotti A, Ambrose SH. 2001. Detection of dietary changes by intra tooth carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis: an experimental study of dentine collagen of cattle (Bos Taurus). J Archaeol Sci 28:235-245. Balasse M, Tresset A. 2002. Early weaning of Neolithic domestic cattle (Bercy, France) revealed by intra-tooth variation in nitrogen isotope ratios. J Archeol Sci 853-859. Bearhop S, Waldron S, Votier SC, Furness RW. 2002. Factors that influence assimilation rates and fractionation of nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes in avian blood and feathers. Physiol Biochem Zool 75:451-458. Beaumont J, Gledhill A, Lee-Thorp J, Montgomery J. 2012. Childhood diet: a closer examination of the evidence from dental tissues using stable isotope analysis of incremental human dentine. Archaeometry 55:277-295. Blakey ML, Leslie TE, Reidy JP. 1994. Frequency and chronological distribution of dental enamel hypoplasia in enslaved African Americans: a test of the weaning hypothesis. Am J Phys Anthropol 95:371-383. Briend A, Wojtyniak B, Rowland MGM. 1988. Breast feeding, nutritional state, and child survival in rural Bandladesh. Br Med J 296:879-882. Cantrelle P, Leridon H. 1971. Breast feeding, mortality in childhood and fertility in a rural zone of Senegal. Population Studies 25:505-533. Chavez A, Martinez C, Soberanes, B. 2000. The effect of malnutrition on human development: a 24-year study of wellnourished and malnourished children living in a poor Mexican
Archaeometry, 2012
Stable isotope analysis has provided crucial new insights into dietary change at the Neolithic transition in northwest Europe, indicating an unexpectedly sudden and radical shift from marine to terrestrial resources in coastal and island locations. Investigations of early Neolithic skeletal material from Sumburgh on Shetland, at the far-flung margins of the Neolithic world, suggest that this general pattern may mask significant subtle detail. Analysis of juvenile dentine reveals the consumption of marine foods on an occasional basis. This suggests that marine foods may have been consumed as a crucial supplementary resource in times of famine, when the newly introduced cereal crops failed to cope with the demanding climate of Shetland. This isotopic evidence is consistent with the presence of marine food debris in contemporary middens. The occasional and contingent nature of marine food consumption underlines how, even on Shetland, the shift from marine to terrestrial diet was a key element in the Neolithic transition.