Introducing d 88/86 Sr analysis in archaeology: of strontium isotope fractionation in paleodietary studies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2010
Isotopic methods are widely used in archaeology to investigate paleodiet. Here, we present a new method to identify trophic level in archaeological human populations and to investigate paleodiet. We demonstrate that strontium isotope compositions (reported as d 88/86 Sr) vary in a mass-dependent manner with increasing trophic level and can elucidate paleodiet in archaeological human populations. We present new mass-dependent strontium isotope data from tooth enamel and bone from individuals buried during the Late Intermediate Period (c. AD 1000e1300) in the large cemeteries of Chiribaya Alta, Chiribaya Baja, San Gerónimo, and El Yaral in the Ilo and Moquegua Valleys of southern Peru. We compare these data to radiogenic strontium isotope data ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) and light stable isotope data (d 15 N col and d 13 C col ) from the same individuals to investigate geologic variability in strontium sources as well as marine food consumption among the Chiribaya. Our results demonstrate the utility of measurements of strontium isotope fractionation as a new tool for archaeological investigation of paleodiet. Importantly, this new technique can be used to generate paleodietary (d 88/86 Sr) and paleomobility ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) data from the same specimen, minimizing destructive analyses of invaluable archaeological material, and provides a new way to examine paleodiet through hydroxyapatite, which is particularly important when collagen is poorly preserved.
Journal of …, 2010
Isotopic methods are widely used in archaeology to investigate paleodiet. Here, we present a new method to identify trophic level in archaeological human populations and to investigate paleodiet. We demonstrate that strontium isotope compositions (reported as d 88/86 Sr) vary in a mass-dependent manner with increasing trophic level and can elucidate paleodiet in archaeological human populations. We present new mass-dependent strontium isotope data from tooth enamel and bone from individuals buried during the Late Intermediate Period (c. AD 1000e1300) in the large cemeteries of Chiribaya Alta, Chiribaya Baja, San Gerónimo, and El Yaral in the Ilo and Moquegua Valleys of southern Peru. We compare these data to radiogenic strontium isotope data ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) and light stable isotope data (d 15 N col and d 13 C col ) from the same individuals to investigate geologic variability in strontium sources as well as marine food consumption among the Chiribaya. Our results demonstrate the utility of measurements of strontium isotope fractionation as a new tool for archaeological investigation of paleodiet. Importantly, this new technique can be used to generate paleodietary (d 88/86 Sr) and paleomobility ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) data from the same specimen, minimizing destructive analyses of invaluable archaeological material, and provides a new way to examine paleodiet through hydroxyapatite, which is particularly important when collagen is poorly preserved.
Applications of Sr isotopes in archaeology
2011
Abstract The inclusion of radiogenic strontium isotope (87 Sr/86 Sr) analysis in archaeological and bioarchaeological research has resulted in the creation of new data by which to evaluate models of migration, culture change, colonization, trade, and exchange. Overwhelmingly, archaeologists have used radiogenic strontium isotope signatures in human enamel and bone apatite to reconstruct ancient mobility patterns and to distinguish between individuals of local and non-local origins at archaeological sites.
Stable isotope analysis has been utilized in archaeology since the 1970s, yet standardized protocols for terminology, sampling, pretreatment evaluation, calibration, quality assurance and control, data presentation, and graphical or statistical treatment still remain lacking in archaeological applications. Here, we present recommendations and requirements for each of these in the archaeological context of: bulk stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of organics; bulk stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of carbonates; single compound stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on amino acids in collagen and keratin; and single compound stable carbon and hydrogen isotope analysis on fatty acids. The protocols are based on recommendations from the Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) [1] as well as an expanding geochemical and archaeological science experimental literature. We hope that this will provide a useful future reference for authors and reviewers engaging with the growing number of stable isotope applications and datasets in archaeology.
Archaeology in Practice: a student guide to archaeological analyses: Revised second edition
John Wiley & Sons, 2013
This chapter provides an introduction to the many ways and means by which both submarine and terrestrial landscapes may be explored for archaeological sites, and how these can be further examined and mapped using nondestructive techniques. Attention is given to aerial and satellite remote imaging, but the main emphasis is on ground-based and submarine geophysical methods. These are areas of highly significant recent development and they hold considerable potential in the future of cultural resource management. Archaeology's stakeholders are many and diverse, but we must learn to consult with them. Many believe that they own the past of their ancestors; that it is not a public heritage. The chapter briefly examines the history of archaeological interaction with stakeholders and epistemological issues that may block successful consultation. Consultation problems involve informed consent, competing claims, and notions of cultural property. Successful consultation involves building partnerships out of mutual respect. Rock-art is an evocative form of material evidence for past peoples. Rock-art takes many different forms around the world. Two primary forms result from their production either as engraving or by the use of pigment. Rock-art can be classified according to technique, form, motif, and size. The recording technique will depend on the site context. Effective field recording will require technical skills and training. The appropriate analysis of rock-art will depend on the questions asked by researchers, and might include spatial distribution analysis, information exchange and stylistic analyses, questions of gender, statistical techniques, dating techniques, and examination of change over time and space. Stratigraphy is the study of stratification; that is, the interpretation of layers that form the deposits of a site over time. This study of stratification is of Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter crucial importance for understanding what happened at an archaeological site-in particular, the order in which events occurred. There are four main principles, drawn from Earth science disciplines, upon which the interpretation of stratigraphy is based, but the human element in the accumulation of archaeological sites makes the application of these principles especially difficult. Discussion of change over time within and between sites is usually done by creating analytical units that are formed by combining material from stratigraphic units. The varieties of methods that archaeologists use to obtain age estimates for the materials that they analyze are outlined under the term "chronometry." Most of the major techniques are discussed, with a particular emphasis on radiocarbon. The chapter then reviews the range of assumptions involved in taking the resulting age estimates and developing these into archaeological chronologies. Case studies emphasize the need for archaeologists to relate the temporal scales at which deposits may be resolved to the nature of the inferences about past behavior that they subsequently draw. This chapter discusses a range of methodological issues and analytical techniques that offer modern alternatives to traditional typology of stone artifacts. This approach emphasizes the identification and description of variation and time-ordering in manufacturing activities and their effects on artifact form, selection for further modification, and discard. A range of issues are also discussed, including research design, classification, data management, sample size effects, statistics, fragmentation, sourcing, and other topics of relevance to current and prospective stone analysts. Usewear and residues can provide reliable indicators of how stone, bone, ceramic, and other artifacts were used in the past. In this chapter, procedures and methods are described for undertaking functional analysis, including introductory experiments and microscope equipment. The identification of organic residues requires knowledge of typical plant and animal structures, properties, and composition. Stone tools provide an example for discussing the main forms of usewear (scarring, striations, polish, and edge rounding), and the wear patterns that are diagnostic of particular tasks, such as sawing bone, cutting wood, and scraping hides. There is a focus on recent archaeological applications and methodological problems. After describing the geology and chemistry of clays and technology of ceramic production, suggestions are provided for excavating, cleaning, marking, and Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 CHAPTER ABSTRACTS xvii Although the focus in archaeology is on material culture, it is the sedimentary matrix containing the material culture that provides key contextual information such as chronology, site formation, and paleoenvironments essential for fully understanding human behavior. Some of the most common techniques used in laboratory sediment analysis are grain size, pH, organic matter, and phosphorous content. The selection of the particular analyses performed will depend on the nature of the samples, the research questions at hand, and, of course, cost. Granulometry was the main laboratory method used to understand Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter CHAPTER ABSTRACTS xviii the vulnerability of Hokokam canal systems in the American Southwest, while several techniques were used in combination to determine the age of Kennewick Man in Washington State, without recourse to destructive sampling of the skeleton. Basic principles used in cataloging artifacts common to historical archaeological sites are reviewed, together with some of the major categories of artifacts found at historical archaeological sites. These categories include domestic ceramics and glass, building materials, and, more briefly, clay tobacco pipes, beads and buttons, glass tools, firearms, and metal containers. Methods used by historical archaeologists for quantifying and analyzing artifact information are discussed, with specific reference to minimum vessel counts and mean dates, and a guide to the most important literature on historic artifacts is provided. A review of historical sources includes general guidelines for research preparation, selecting materials, and judging source credibility. A case study illustrates the use of documents at Braudel's three broad scales of history: long-term history, social time, and individual time. Relationships between documents and archaeological evidence are described as (i) identification, (ii) complement, (iii) hypothesis formation and testing, (iv) contradiction, (v) confronting myths, and (vi) creating context. An appeal is made for archaeological contributions to history. The starting points of writing are knowing what you want to say and who your audience is. Writing in the science structure-aims, background, methods, results, and conclusions-is suitable for most presentations, especially if you remember KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). All writing benefits from being read and critiqued by your friends and colleagues; writing well requires constant practice. When writing for publication, follow the instructions meticulously, use only clear and relevant illustrations, and get your references right.
New Directions in Archaeological Science
Archaeological Science meetings will have a personality of their own depending on the focus of the host archaeological fraternity itself. The 8th Australasian Archaeometry meeting follows this pattern but underlying the regional emphasis is the continuing concern for the processes of change in the landscape that simultaneously effect and illuminate the archaeological record. These are universal themes for any archaeological research with the increasing employment of science-based studies proving to be a key to understanding the place of humans as subjects and agents of change over time. This collection of refereed papers covers the thematic fields of geoarchaeology, archaeobotany, materials analysis and chronometry, with particular emphasis on the first two. The editors Andrew Fairbairn, Sue O’Connor and Ben Marwick outline the special value of these contributions in the introduction. The international nature of archaeological science will mean that the advances set out in these papers will find a receptive audience among many archaeologists elsewhere. There is no doubt that the story that Australasian archaeology has to tell has been copiously enriched by incorporating a widening net of advanced science-based studies. This has brought attention to the nature of the environment as a human artefact, a fact now more widely appreciated, and archaeology deals with these artefacts, among others, in this way in this publication.
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2022
Editorial on the Research Topic A Golden Age for Strontium Isotope Research? Current Advances in Paleoecological and Archaeological Research Building from a session we chaired at the 2019 International Union for Quaternary Research Congress in Dublin, this Research Topic explores advances and new applications in strontium isotope research across paleoecology, archaeology, and allied fields. These contributions encompass the range of current research, the latest developments, and future potentials of this rapidly advancing research area. With authors from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, geology, geochemistry, and ecology, the multidisciplinary relevance of modern strontium isotope analyses of biological materials is clear. The scope of the papers is also vast, with international research teams presenting work from Madagascar, the USA, Canada, the Peruvian and Southern Andes, China, the Levant, Western Europe and Scandinavia, and a temporal range spanning from the Neolithic up to the present. Papers by Weber et al. and Snoeck et al. present novel experimental studies sensu stricto: A controlled feeding study using rodents, and the evaluation of artificially-treated wood samples, respectively. In their study, Weber et al. found differences in the time it took for cohorts of rats to reach tissue equilibrium after a dietary switch, as well as time-lags along the growth axis of their teeth. They also found inter-specific differences in equilibration time when individuals were fed new diets. There was a measurable influence of both drinking water and kaolin dust on rodent enamel, shifting enamel strontium isotope ratios (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) toward these additive sources. These authors go on to speculate that some diet-tissue 87 Sr/ 86 Sr differences may reflect bioavailable components of diet differing from bulk 87 Sr/ 86 Sr-an idea supported by subsequent acid leaching tests on food samples designed to mimic the rodents' digestive tracts. These findings contribute significantly to our understanding of bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr assimilation and complement the few previous controlled feeding studies (e.g.,
87Sr/86Sr in Archeological and Paleobiological Research: A Perspective
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2021
The stable isotope ratio 87Sr/86Sr has been shown to have extraordinary potential for documenting the movement and life-histories of humans and other animals, both in history and prehistory. Thirty years of expanding applications has taken the method from a niche (if not fringe) approach to a normal part of archeological and paleobiological enquiry; indeed a “Golden Age.” The technique is inherently interdisciplinary, because in addition to those archeologists and paleobiologists wishing to apply it, most applications require informed input from ecologists, geochemists, and calcified tissue biologists. This perspective explores how such interdisciplinarity is both a strength and an impediment to further advancement.
Archaeology in practice : a student guide to archaeological analyses
This chapter provides an introduction to the many ways and means by which both submarine and terrestrial landscapes may be explored for archaeological sites, and how these can be further examined and mapped using nondestructive techniques. Attention is given to aerial and satellite remote imaging, but the main emphasis is on ground-based and submarine geophysical methods. These are areas of highly significant recent development and they hold considerable potential in the future of cultural resource management. Archaeology's stakeholders are many and diverse, but we must learn to consult with them. Many believe that they own the past of their ancestors; that it is not a public heritage. The chapter briefly examines the history of archaeological interaction with stakeholders and epistemological issues that may block successful consultation. Consultation problems involve informed consent, competing claims, and notions of cultural property. Successful consultation involves building partnerships out of mutual respect. Rock-art is an evocative form of material evidence for past peoples. Rock-art takes many different forms around the world. Two primary forms result from their production either as engraving or by the use of pigment. Rock-art can be classified according to technique, form, motif, and size. The recording technique will depend on the site context. Effective field recording will require technical skills and training. The appropriate analysis of rock-art will depend on the questions asked by researchers, and might include spatial distribution analysis, information exchange and stylistic analyses, questions of gender, statistical techniques, dating techniques, and examination of change over time and space. Stratigraphy is the study of stratification; that is, the interpretation of layers that form the deposits of a site over time. This study of stratification is of Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter crucial importance for understanding what happened at an archaeological site-in particular, the order in which events occurred. There are four main principles, drawn from Earth science disciplines, upon which the interpretation of stratigraphy is based, but the human element in the accumulation of archaeological sites makes the application of these principles especially difficult. Discussion of change over time within and between sites is usually done by creating analytical units that are formed by combining material from stratigraphic units. The varieties of methods that archaeologists use to obtain age estimates for the materials that they analyze are outlined under the term "chronometry." Most of the major techniques are discussed, with a particular emphasis on radiocarbon. The chapter then reviews the range of assumptions involved in taking the resulting age estimates and developing these into archaeological chronologies. Case studies emphasize the need for archaeologists to relate the temporal scales at which deposits may be resolved to the nature of the inferences about past behavior that they subsequently draw. This chapter discusses a range of methodological issues and analytical techniques that offer modern alternatives to traditional typology of stone artifacts. This approach emphasizes the identification and description of variation and time-ordering in manufacturing activities and their effects on artifact form, selection for further modification, and discard. A range of issues are also discussed, including research design, classification, data management, sample size effects, statistics, fragmentation, sourcing, and other topics of relevance to current and prospective stone analysts. Usewear and residues can provide reliable indicators of how stone, bone, ceramic, and other artifacts were used in the past. In this chapter, procedures and methods are described for undertaking functional analysis, including introductory experiments and microscope equipment. The identification of organic residues requires knowledge of typical plant and animal structures, properties, and composition. Stone tools provide an example for discussing the main forms of usewear (scarring, striations, polish, and edge rounding), and the wear patterns that are diagnostic of particular tasks, such as sawing bone, cutting wood, and scraping hides. There is a focus on recent archaeological applications and methodological problems. After describing the geology and chemistry of clays and technology of ceramic production, suggestions are provided for excavating, cleaning, marking, and Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 CHAPTER ABSTRACTS xvii Although the focus in archaeology is on material culture, it is the sedimentary matrix containing the material culture that provides key contextual information such as chronology, site formation, and paleoenvironments essential for fully understanding human behavior. Some of the most common techniques used in laboratory sediment analysis are grain size, pH, organic matter, and phosphorous content. The selection of the particular analyses performed will depend on the nature of the samples, the research questions at hand, and, of course, cost. Granulometry was the main laboratory method used to understand Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter CHAPTER ABSTRACTS xviii the vulnerability of Hokokam canal systems in the American Southwest, while several techniques were used in combination to determine the age of Kennewick Man in Washington State, without recourse to destructive sampling of the skeleton. Basic principles used in cataloging artifacts common to historical archaeological sites are reviewed, together with some of the major categories of artifacts found at historical archaeological sites. These categories include domestic ceramics and glass, building materials, and, more briefly, clay tobacco pipes, beads and buttons, glass tools, firearms, and metal containers. Methods used by historical archaeologists for quantifying and analyzing artifact information are discussed, with specific reference to minimum vessel counts and mean dates, and a guide to the most important literature on historic artifacts is provided. A review of historical sources includes general guidelines for research preparation, selecting materials, and judging source credibility. A case study illustrates the use of documents at Braudel's three broad scales of history: long-term history, social time, and individual time. Relationships between documents and archaeological evidence are described as (i) identification, (ii) complement, (iii) hypothesis formation and testing, (iv) contradiction, (v) confronting myths, and (vi) creating context. An appeal is made for archaeological contributions to history. The starting points of writing are knowing what you want to say and who your audience is. Writing in the science structure-aims, background, methods, results, and conclusions-is suitable for most presentations, especially if you remember KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). All writing benefits from being read and critiqued by your friends and colleagues; writing well requires constant practice. When writing for publication, follow the instructions meticulously, use only clear and relevant illustrations, and get your references right.