Stable oxygen isotopes in bioapatite Research Papers (original) (raw)

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- Chemistry, Stable isotope ecology, Stable Isotope Analysis, Stable Isotope Forensics
- by Herve Bocherens
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- Biomolecular archaeology, Dinosaur Paleontology, Dinosauria, Dinosaurs

Objectives: The Early Bronze Age (EBA; ca. 3,600-2000 BCE) of the southern Levant underwent considerable transformation as agro-pastoral communities began to utilize their land more intensively, constructing larger, fortified towns prior to site abandon-ment at the end of the third millennium. At the site of Bab adh-Dhra' in Jordan, the dead of the Early Bronze (EB) II-III (ca. 3,100-2,500 BCE) period were communally interred within charnel houses, but important disparities between these structures and their contents may be reflective of ownership and use by particular extended kin groups whose activity patterns, subsistence strategies, and even social status may have differed from one another. Subsequently, we hypothesized that differences in mobility and dietary intake may differentiate tomb groups from one another. Materials and Methods: Dental enamel from 31 individuals interred in three different Early Bronze Age charnel houses (A56, A22, A55) at Bab adh-Dhra', Jordan were analyzed for strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope values. Results: Strontium isotope ratios (range: 0.70793-0.70842) possessed medians that did not differ statistically from one another, but had ranges that exhibited significant differences in variance. Carbon isotope values (x= −13.2 ± 0.5‰, 1σ) were not significantly different. Discussion: General similarities in human isotopic signatures between EB II-III char-nel houses A22 and A55 suggest that their activities were likely similar to one another and agree with findings from excavated domestic spaces with little archaeological evidence for economic, social, or political differentiation. More variable strontium isotope ratios and lower carbon isotope values from A22 could reflect a greater involvement with pastoralist practices or regional trade, including the consumption of more 13 C-depleted foods, while those in A55 may have led a more sedentary lifestyle with greater involvement in cultivating orchard crops. All charnel houses contained nonlocal individuals likely originating from other Dead Sea Plain sites with no EB II-III cemeteries of their own, supporting the idea that extended kin groups throughout the region returned to Bab adh-Dhra' to bury their dead. K E Y W O R D S Bronze Age, carbon isotopes, Near East, oxygen isotopes, residential mobility, social identity, strontium isotopes, subsistence

- by Susan Guise Sheridan
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- Biogeochemistry, Stable Isotope Analysis, Bioarchaeology, Social Identity

Teeth and bones of fossil vertebrates can preserve a record of Quaternary terrestrial environments in the form of the isotopic compositions of carbon (13C/12C), nitrogen (15N/14N), and oxygen (18O/16O). These isotopic signatures in teeth and bones have yielded valuable information on the extent of savanna environments under tropical climates, on the ancient levels of aridity, on the spread of dense forests at the beginning of the Holocene, and on the paleodiet of Hominids and their associated fauna.

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) was an emblematic and key species of the so-called mammoth steppe ecosystem between ca. 110,000 and 12,000 years ago. Its contribution to human subsistence during the Gravettian period as source of raw material was documented in southwestern France and southwestern Germany, with some evidence of active hunting in the latter region. However, decreasing genetic diversity and increasing indications of nutritional stress point to a likely decline of this megaherbivore. The specificity of the ecological niche occupied by the woolly mammoth is clearly reflected by their collagen 13C and 15N abundances (δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll), measured on skeletal remains of the typical mammoth steppe. The abundances of carbon-13 in mammoth collagen are comparable to those of other grazers like horse (Equus sp.), while the nitrogen-15 abundances are significantly higher (about 3‰) than in the other herbivores, either horse or reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). During the Aurignacian and Gravettian occupation at Geißenklösterle in the Ach Valley (Germany), the mammoths had the expected stable isotope signature, but the nitrogen-15 of horses showed an unexpected overlap with those of the mammoth. This unusual pattern was already occurring during the Aurignacian, while the oxygen-18 abundances in bone phosphate (δ18Obp) of horse and reindeer were unchanged between Aurignacian and Gravettian periods, which rules out significant change in environmental and climatic conditions. Thus, we hypothesize that during the Aurignacian and Gravettian, the ecological niche of mammoth was intact but not occupied intensively by mammoths due to a decline in their population. This decline could be tentatively explained by human pressure through hunting. In Dordogne (France), decreasing horse and reindeer δ15Ncoll values coeval to decreasing horse δ18Obp values between the Aurignacian and the Early Gravettian periods reflected a clear change in the environment, while no contrast in δ15Ncoll values was observed between the Early and Final Gravettian at the Abri Pataud. The mammoth of Dordogne yielded slightly higher δ15Ncoll values than expected, probably as a consequence of the nursing effect since all the analyzed samples were ivory instead of bone. The direct dating and sulphur-34 measurement on the ivory of the Early Gravettian at Pataud showed that almost all of them were of contemporaneous and local origin. Significant contrasts in δ34Scoll values were found between the Dordogne and the Ach Valley for the same herbivores species, which confirms the potential of sulphur-34 in collagen as a mobility tracker.

- by Herve Bocherens
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Pleistocene Vertebrate, Aurignacian, Pleistocene

ABSTRACT: Analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from soft or mineralized tissues is a direct and widely used
technique for modeling diets. In addition to its continued role in paleodiet analysis, stable isotope analysis is now
contributing to studies of physiology, disease, and nutrition in archaeological and living human populations. In humans
and other animals, dietary uptake and distribution of carbon and nitrogen among mineralized and soft tissue is carried
out with varying efficiency due to factors of internal biology. Human pathophysiologies may lead to pathology-influenced
isotopic fractionation that can be exploited to understand not just skeletal health and diet, but physiological
health and nutrition. This study reviews examples from human biology, non-human animal ecology, biomedicine, and
bioarchaeology demonstrating how stable isotope analyses are usefully applied to the study of physiological adaptation
and adaptability. Suggestions are made for future directions in applying stable isotope analysis to the study of nutritional
stress, disease, and growth and development in living and past human populations.

- by Laurie Reitsema
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- Archaeology, Health Sciences, Nutrition and Dietetics, Human Evolution

Vertical transhumance is an important animal husbandry strategy that provides livestock with consistent access to pasture throughout the year and contributed to the intensification of sheep and goat husbandry in the Near East over 10,000 years ago. Sequential carbon (δ 13 C) and oxygen (δ 18 O) isotope analyses of teeth from domesticated sheep and goats dating to the early Neolithic (9200 to 8700 cal yr B.P.) from a region of strong local topo-graphic relief in southern Jordan exhibit inverse cyclical isotopic variation characterized by the coincidence of high δ 18 O values with low δ 13 C values indicating ingestion of 13 C-depleted plants during the summer season. This pattern is consistent with vertical transhumance of caprines moving from low-elevation C 3 /C 4 Irano-Turani-an pastures to higher-elevation Mediterranean C 3 pastures during the summer, but other seasonally directed animal husbandry strategies involving amendment of livestock diets generate a similar isotopic outcome. Caprine δ 18 O values referenced against the oxygen isotope ratios of contemporaneous obligate drinking cattle and non-obligate drinking mountain gazelle, bovids with limited home ranges, help distinguish the influence of meteoric water, 18 O-enriched leaf water, and movement on the oxygen isotopic composition of sheep and goat tooth enamel. This approach assists in independent validation of vertical transhumance hypothesized for inverse cyclical variation in sequential δ 13 C and δ 18 O values and, also, decouples seasonal foddering from mobility in the carbon isotopic dietary record. The isotopic data presented here reveal that complex sheep and goat husbandry systems involving vertical transhumance, stationary flock-keeping, and winter foddering were in place by the late tenth millennium cal y.r. B.P. east of the Jordan Valley.

Even though the Cenozoic has been recognized as a period of important climate change, long-term climatic changes that took place in the continental domain are still questioned. For an area, southern Germany, for which other long-term palaeoclimatic records exist, analysis of oxygen isotope composition of small mammal teeth has been carried out for localities ranging in age from the late Eocene (c.36 Ma) to the middle Miocene (c.10 Ma). Comparison of this long-term continental δ18O record with the marine record reveals comparable trends. The major Cenozoic climatic events are thus recognized in the continental oxygen isotope record.Through comparison with other quantitative palaeoclimatic reconstructions available for the studied area, temperatures in southern Germany are broadly estimated to have fluctuated between 12 °C and 25 °C from late Eocene to early late Miocene. According to the different available chronological frameworks, either a ∼ 2 °C (considering the classical biostratigraphy) or a ∼ 6 °C (considering a revised biostratigraphy) decrease in mean air temperature is estimated for the Eocene/Oligocene boundary.

- by Christophe Lécuyer
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- Evolutionary Biology, Geology, Climate Change, Stable Isotope Geochemistry

The following research was funded via public money. As such, it is important that the results of this research be distributed to the populace free-of-charge with no publisher restrictions or limitations. The research outlined in this paper measures the δ18O values for the shells of both modern whelk and marginella species. These values serve as a proxy for water temperature variation along the coasts of the Middle Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The modern values were compared with the δ18O values noted for dated archaeological shell specimens from the same stretch of coastline in an attempt to determine if water temperatures varied in the past. The δ18O values noted for the archaeological specimens closely approximate the values observed in the modern samples. The collective results provide a method to delineate the coastal point of origin for marine shell ornaments found at archaeological sites located in the Ohio Valley, the Appalachians, and the Great Lakes region.

- by Darrin Lowery
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Stable Isotope Analysis, Geoarchaeology

This pilot study investigates the existence of seasonal movements of sheep – transhumance – in Iron Age Catalo- nia (North-Eastern Spain). The occurrence of seasonal movement of livestock between the coast and the interior, perhaps in relation to the Mediterranean market, was suggested for this area based on landscape and palynolog- ical studies. This hypothesis was tested on the basis of strontium, carbon and oxygen isotope analysis from seven sheep lower third molars. The evidence obtained suggests that the animals did not move across geological areas during the time of enamel mineralization. In addition, the paper provides valuable isotopic evidence that can be used in further studies.

- by Sergio Jiménez Manchón and +3
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- Zooarchaeology, Stable Isotope Analysis, Iron Age Iberian Peninsula (Archaeology), Pastoralism (Archaeology)

This paper discusses the selection of osseous raw materials from Late Holocene hunter-gatherer sites located in the wetlands that formed in the low basin of the Paraná River. Although most of the bone comes from local taxa, the bones from a non-local mammal found in the adjacent Pampa plains, Lama guanicoe (guanaco), was occasionally used in bone tool manufacture. First we characterize this ungulate through isotopic data (d 18 O) as non-local prey and explore the strategies for procurement of the guanaco bones. Then we analyze the typology and the specific morphometric properties of the tools that were produced from them. The results show that the guanaco bones arrived from the plains of the Pampa plains by way of logistic hunting and probably at the same time through trade behavior, to obtain large hides of high quality which were not available from animals living in the wetlands. The guanaco distal metapodials were probably attached to the hides when they were brought into the settlement. They were used to produce a particular kind of bone projectile. The procurement of these bones was a conscious and particular behavior associated with the acquisition of blanks with particular morphometric properties. The artifacts made of metapodia display standardized metric, morphologic and microscopic structures that support this statement, suggesting a well-defined and established technological strategy connected to with these particular skeletal elements.

Long, continuous records of Late Quaternary environmental change are rare in Southeast Asia, yet they are crucial for understanding the nature of early human dispersal and occupation in the Australasian region. We present a new record of palaeomonsoon activity extending back to 35,000 BP (years before the present), based on the analysis of oxygen isotope ratios (d18O) in the freshwater bivalve Margaritanopsis
laosensis excavated from the Tham Lod and Ban Rai rockshelters in Mae Hong Son Province, northwest Thailand. Long-term changes in the M. laosensis d18O record reflect changes in the d18O of the river water in which these organisms grew, and correlate well with changes in speleothem d18O records of east Asian monsoon rainfall from Hulu Cave and Dongge Cave in China. The new northwest Thailand d18O sequence indicates wetter and relatively unstable climatic conditions from 35,000 to 20,000 BP, followed by drier conditions from 20,000 to 11,500 BP. A period of peak aridity occurred around 15,600 BP during Heinrich Event 1, suggesting that the intertropical convergence zone shifted southward when
the North Atlantic region cooled. However, there is little evidence for the Younger Dryas event at w12,800e11,500 BP. After 9,800 BP, precipitation increased substantially and climatic variability declined. Our findings provide an improved baseline against which to gauge interactions between early humans and climate change in Southeast Asia. For example, there was no significant change in the prehistoric flake stone technology used at Tham Lod and Ban Rai despite the bivalve d18O evidence for substantial climate change in the region. Also, the climatic impact of the Younger Dryas event appears to have been less intense in northwest Thailand compared to the cooling and drying observed in China, and may explain why agriculture made a relatively late appearance in Thailand, possibly involving migrants from China.

- by Ben Marwick
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- Geochemistry, Geoarchaeology, Stable Isotopes, Thailand

Treponematosis has been one of the most studied and debated infectious diseases in paleopathology, particularly from the standpoint of its origin, evolution, and transmission. This study links evidence for treponematosis in skeletons from the 14th–16th century AD cemetery of the Augustinian friary of Hull Magistrates Court, England, with data from stable isotope analysis to test the hypothesis that the people with treponemal disease buried at this site were not locally born and raised. The objective is to explore the potential of using stable isotope data to track the place of origin and extent of mobility of individu- als with an infectious disease. Dental enamel samples of 12 skeletons were selected for strontium (87Sr/86Sr ratio) and oxygen (d18O) stable isotope analysis based on the presence (six - diseased) or absence (six - controls) of bone changes associated with treponemal disease. The oxygen isotope ratios of all but three individuals (1047, 1121, 823) overlapped at two standard deviations with the inferred local precipitation range, and only one individual (1216) had a strontium isotope ratio outside the regional range. Two of the four had probable/possible treponemal bone changes. Those with treponemal bone changes were not demonstrably more likely to be migrants than those without such lesions. However, because of extensive documentary evidence for trade with the Baltic Sea area, and for merchants from towns such as Stralsund, Danzig and Elbing being in Hull, it is very plausible that the four migrants came from the Baltic area or even southern Sweden.

- by Darren Gröcke
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- Archaeology, Stable Isotopes, Migration Studies, Infectious Diseases
- by Martina Pacher and +1
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- Paleobiology, Archaeology, Geology, Paleodiet
- by Kelly Knudson
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- Stable Isotope Analysis, Bioarchaeology, Andean Archaeology, Archaeological Science

This is the first systematic study of residential patterns of Mexica human sacrifices, as determined from bone and enamel phosphate oxygen isotope data of individuals recovered at the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan (n = 36)
and the Templo R of Tlatelolco (n = 24). We identify these individuals’ geographic residences and compare these patterns with phosphate oxygen isotope data from a contemporary non-sacrificial group (Ecatepec; n = 24) from the Basin of Mexico. The sacrifices’ residential patterns are evaluated to assess their group membership (i.e., as locals, long-term residents, or non-locals from other regions of Mesoamerica). The Tlatelolco subadult and adult sacrifices were either locals or long-term residents. The Templo Mayor subadult sacrifices offered at several ceremonies were non-locals and long-term residents, while the adult sacrifices were long-term residents (e.g., slaves living in Tenochtitlan >10 yrs.) or non-locals (e.g., war captives, slaves, spoils-of-war sacrificed soon after arriving to the Basin). Our results demonstrate the Templo Mayor priests had broad access to long-term residents and non-locals with origins from Mesoamerican regions subjugated by the Mexica. This study illustrates the Mexica obtained individuals for sacrifice with a diverse range of physical, social, and geographic characteristics for their ritual ceremonies.

- by Diana K Moreiras Reynaga and +4
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- Mesoamerican Archaeology, Aztecs, Stable Isotopes, Stable oxygen isotopes in bioapatite

The early Eocene deposits of El Kohol locality, Algeria, have yielded numerous remains of Numidotherium koholense, one of the most primitive and oldest known Proboscidean of the radiation of this order in Africa. The Late Eocene proboscideans of Fayum locality (Egypt), Barytherium grave and Moeritherium sp. were recently recognized as aquatic or semi-aquatic, according to the isotopic composition (δ13C and δ18O) of their tooth enamel. These data led us to reinvestigate the adaptations of Numidotherium koholense. Isotopic analysis and histological sections of its long bones reveal that it was essentially terrestrial. According to its position within the phylogenetic tree of Eocene proboscideans, the adaptation to semi-aquatic life appears to have been developed independently in different lineages of Middle and Late Eocene proboscideans during their adaptive radiation in Africa. Moreover, these new results reopen the debate on the purposed semi-aquatic adaptation of the common ancestor of sirenians and proboscideans.

- by Herve Bocherens
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- Paleobiology, Paleoecology, Palaeoecology, Evolutionary Ecology
- by Rhiannon Stevens
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- Archaeology, Geology, Climate Change, Quaternary

Both in palaeontology and archaeology, the study of bone and teeth is key to the understanding of the past as they represent direct evidence of life on Earth. The mineral present in bone and teeth (bioapatite – a highly substituted hexagonal calcium phosphate apatite) contains several elements that can be used to reconstruct palaeoenvironments, palaeodiets, mobility patterns, etc.
Every day, important advances are made in the study of bioapatites using a wide range of analytical methods such as stable isotopes (δ13Cap, δ18Op, δ18Oc, 87Sr/86Sr), ICP-MS, FTIR and µXRF. The combination of the results provides important information on the state of preservation of the samples as well as information on the palaeoecology of the analysed specimens.
Here, results from a wide range of bioapatites are presented highlighting the importance of multi-proxy analyses for the comprehensive overview of the state of preservation of the samples. As such, it is possible to select the best possible sample from which the most pristine information can be extracted for palaeoecological reconstructions.

- by Philippe Claeys and +2
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- Paleontology, Stable Isotope Analysis, Paleoclimatology, Trace element Geochemistry

Le travail de reconstitution des systèmes d’élevage préhistoriques a beaucoup été nourri d’analogies avec les économies pastorales traditionnelles sub-contemporaines. Celles-ci demeurent une source riche et très utile pour embrasser le champ des possibilités. Aux périodes proto- et historiques, même lorsque des sources textuelles et iconographiques sont disponibles, elles ne sauraient toujours refléter la variabilité des pratiques à l’échelle locale. Désormais, nous savons également exploiter des témoignages directs des pratiques d’élevage, constitués par les restes animaux euxmêmes. En particulier, des informations inédites peuvent être restituées à partir de l’analyse de la composition isotopique des éléments constitutifs des os et des dents. Ceux-ci sont incorporés dans le squelette par l’alimentation. Ils constituent des enregistrements précieux de la paléoécologie tout en étant liés à l’histoire individuelle. Dans cette synthèse, nous abordons tout particulièrement la saisonnalité des naissances du cheptel domestique, paramètre clef du système d’élevage. Nous expliquons les principes de la méthodologie appliquée pour reconstituer la distribution des naissances, les protocoles mis en oeuvre et les premiers résultats obtenus dans des contextes néolithiques et chalcolithiques européens.

- by Delphine Frémondeau and +1
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- European History, Stable Isotope Analysis, Stable oxygen isotopes in bioapatite, Herd management strategies
- by Herve Bocherens
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- Human Evolution, Hominin Diet, Stable Isotopes in Foodwebs, Paranthropus

"Stable isotopes in mammal bones are mainly used to reconstruct dietary preferences and their use as palaeoclimatic indicators is
less developed. However, important variations in 15N abundances observed in the bone collagen of large mammals during the Late-glacial and early Holocene have been tentatively linked to a general increase in temperature. In order to test this hypothesis, we analysed nitrogen and oxygen isotopic abundances from bones of red deer (Cervus elaphus) from the Rochedane site (Jura, France). We observe a clear linear relationship between 15N and 18O that demonstrates the effect of temperature on the abundance of 15N in red deer bone collagen. These results suggest that an increase in soil maturation during global warming of the Late-glacial and early Holocene led to an increase of 15N in soils and plants that was passed on to their consumers. Red deer seem to be particularly suited for palaeoclimatic reconstruction based on the isotopic signatures of their bones."

- by Dorothée Drucker and +1
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- Stable Isotope Analysis, Paleoclimate, Stable oxygen isotopes in bioapatite, Cervus elaphus

Abstract This is the first systematic study of residential patterns of Mexica human sacrifices, as determined from bone and enamel phosphate oxygen isotope data of individuals recovered at the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan (n = 36) and the Templo R of Tlatelolco (n = 24). We identify these individuals’ geographic residences and compare these patterns with phosphate oxygen isotope data from a contemporary non-sacrificial group (Ecatepec; n = 24) from the Basin of Mexico. The sacrifices’ residential patterns are evaluated to assess their group membership (i.e., as locals, long-term residents, or non-locals from other regions of Mesoamerica). The Tlatelolco subadult and adult sacrifices were either locals or long-term residents. The Templo Mayor subadult sacrifices offered at several ceremonies were non-locals and long-term residents, while the adult sacrifices were long-term residents (e.g., slaves living in Tenochtitlan >10 yrs.) or non-locals (e.g., war captives, slaves, spoils-of-war sacrificed soon after arriving to the Basin). Our results demonstrate the Templo Mayor priests had broad access to long-term residents and non-locals with origins from Mesoamerican regions subjugated by the Mexica. This study illustrates the Mexica obtained individuals for sacrifice with a diverse range of physical, social, and geographic characteristics for their ritual ceremonies.

- by juan alberto roman
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- Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology, Mesoamerican Archaeology

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) is a flexible species that survived the significant climatic and environmental change toward warming temperature and forested landscape of the Late-glacial to early Holocene transition (ca. 17–6 ka cal BP). To investigate the conditions of ethological adaptation of red deer at that time, isotopic analysis of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur in collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15Ncoll, δ34Scoll) and of oxygen in phosphate (δ18Op) were performed on red deer from archaeological sites of the French Jura and the western Alps. Fifty out of eighty two samples benefited from direct AMS radiocarbon dating, which confirmed the few number of red deer record during the cold Younger Dryas oscillation (ca. 12.8–11.6 ka cal BP) in Western Europe. The French Jura red deer showed a significant decrease in their δ13Ccoll values and increase in their δ15Ncoll values in the early Holocene compared to the Late-glacial, which is most likely due to the change in environment from open areas with low pedogenic activity to warm dense forests with increasing soil maturity. In contrast, the stable δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll values over time in the western Alps were thought to indicate a change to higher altitude for the red deer habitat in this mountainous region. A decrease of the δ18Op values between the Late-glacial and the early Holocene was observed in the western Alps red deer, in contrast to the expected increase with rising temperature which was indeed confirmed for the French Jura red deer. The multi-isotope results pointed to open areas home range at higher altitude for the Alps red deer in the Holocene compared to the previous period. The similarity of the δ34Scoll patterns with those of the δ15Ncoll suggested the primarily influence of soil activity on the 34S abundances recorded by red deer in a purely terrestrial context. Red deer of the French Jura on one hand and of the western Alps on the other hand showed different adaptive response to the global warming of the early Holocene, with an ethological change in the first case and a change in home range in the second case.

- by Anne BRIDAULT and +1
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- Archaeology, Geology, Western Europe, Stable Isotope Analysis
- by Colin Macpherson
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- Evolutionary Biology, Archaeology, Anthropology, Medieval History

Carbon stable isotope ratios (δ13C), measured in human bone collagen (δ13Ccollagen) and bioapatite (δ13Cbioapatite), are commonly used indicators in ancient human diet reconstruction. The underlying assumption is that human tissues broadly reflect the δ13C signal of dietary food sources (δ13Cdiet) plus an isotopic offset. However, interpretation of results may be confounded by the differentiated routing of macronutrients (energy, that is carbohydrates and lipids, and protein) having associated different isotopic signals (δ13Cenergy, δ13Cprotein). Multiple regression analyses were conducted on data from controlled animal feeding experiments compiled by Froehle et al. (J Archaeol Sci 37:2662–2670, 2010). We derived a simple algebraic macronutrient-based model with δ13Cbioapatite = 10.1 + δ13Cdiet (‰) and δ13Ccollagen = 4.8 + 0.74 δ13Cprotein + 0.26 δ13Cenergy (‰). While the established relationship for δ13Cbioapatite is similar to previously known results, the model also suggests that δ13Ccollagen signal contributions originate from surprisingly consistent proportions of protein and energy macronutrients. Given that feeding experiments explore extreme variations in the proportion of diet macronutrients, the applicability of the proposed model and its predictions were tested in a variety of well-known, wild animal and human, natural contexts. Possible biochemical mechanisms explaining these empirical results are discussed.

- by Ricardo Fernandes
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- Archaeology, Anthropology, Stable isotope ecology, Zooarchaeology
- by Mouloud Benammi
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- Paleobiology, Geology, Paleoecology, Palaeoecology

ABSTRACT It has become a widespread practice to
convert d18Op values measured in human and animal
dental enamel to a corresponding value of d18Ow and compare
these data with mapped d18Ow groundwater or meteoric
water values to locate the region where the owner of
the tooth lived during the formation of the enamel.
Because this is a regression procedure, the errors associated
with the predicted d18Ow values will depend critically
on the correlation between the comparative data
used to perform the regression. By comparing four widely
used regression equations we demonstrate that the smallest
95% error is likely to be greater than 61% in d18Ow,
and could be as large as 63.5%. These values are significantly
higher than those quoted in some of the recent
literature, and measurements with errors at the higher
end of this range would render many of the published
geographical attributions statistically unsupportable.
We suggest that the simplest solution to this situation is
to make geographical attributions based on the direct
comparison of measured values of d18Op rather than on
predicted values of d18Ow.

Recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction is frequently described as delayed, with complex ecological communities typically not found in the fossil record until the Middle Triassic epoch. However, the taxonomic diversity of a number of marine groups, ranging from ammonoids to benthic foraminifera, peaked rapidly in the Early Triassic. These variations in biodiversity occur amidst pronounced excursions in the carbon isotope record, which are compatible with episodes of massive CO2 outgassing from the Siberian Large Igneous Province. Here we present a high-resolution Early Triassic temperature record based on the oxygen isotope composition of pristine apatite from fossil conodonts. Our reconstruction shows that the beginning of the Smithian substage of the Early Triassicwas marked by a cooler climate, followed by an interval of warmth lasting until the Spathian substage boundary. Cooler conditions resumed in the Spathian. We find the greatest increases in taxonomic diversity during the cooler phases of the early Smithian and early Spathian. In contrast, a period of extreme warmth in the middle and late Smithian was associated with floral ecological change and high faunal taxonomic turnover in the ocean. We suggest that climate upheaval and carboncycle perturbations due to volcanic outgassing were important drivers of Early Triassic biotic recovery.

- by Winand Brinkmann and +1
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- Marine Biology, Palaeoclimatology, Geology, Geochemistry

This is the first systematic study of residential patterns of Mexica human sacrifices, as determined from bone and enamel phosphate oxygen isotope data of individuals recovered at the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan (n = 36) and the Templo R of Tlatelolco (n = 24). We identify these individuals’ geographic residences and compare these patterns with phosphate oxygen isotope data from a contemporary non-sacrificial group (Ecatepec; n = 24) from the Basin of Mexico. The sacrifices’ residential patterns are evaluated to assess their group membership (i.e., as locals, long-term residents, or non-locals from other regions of Mesoamerica). The Tlatelolco subadult and adult sacrifices were either locals or long-term residents. The Templo Mayor subadult sacrifices offered at several ceremonies were non-locals and long-term residents, while the adult sacrifices were long-term residents (e.g., slaves living in Tenochtitlan >10 yrs.) or non-locals (e.g., war captives, slaves, spoils-of-war sacr...

- by Jean-François Millaire
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- Archaeology, Anthropology, Mesoamerican Archaeology, Aztecs

Mammalian body, blood and hard tissue oxygen isotope compositions (δ 18 O values) reflect environmental water and food sources, climate, and physiological processes. For this reason, fossil and archaeological hard tissues, which originally formed in equilibrium with body chemistry, are a valuable record of past climate, landscape paleoecology, and animal physiology and behavior. However, the environmental and physiological determinants of blood oxygen isotope composition have not been determined experimentally from large herbivores. This class of fauna is abundant in Cenozoic terrestrial fossil assemblages, and the isotopic composition of large herbivore teeth has been central to a number of climate and ecological reconstructions. Furthermore, existing models predict blood water, or nearly equivalently body water, δ 18 O values based on environmental water sources. These have been evaluated on gross timescales, but have not been employed to track seasonal variation. Here we report how water, food, and physiology determine blood water δ 18 O values in experimental sheep (Ovis aries) subjected to controlled water switches. We find that blood water δ 18 O values rapidly reach steady state with environmental drinking water and reflect transient events including weaning, seasons, and snowstorms. Behavioral and physiological variation within a single genetically homogenous population of herbivores results in significant inter-animal variation in blood water δ 18 O values at single collection times (1 s.d. = 0.1–1.4‰, range = 3.5‰) and reveals a range of water flux rates (t 1/2 = 2.2–2.9 days) within the population. We find that extant models can predict average observed sheep blood δ 18 O values with striking fidelity, but predict a pattern of seasonal variation exactly opposite of that observed in our population for which water input variation was controlled and the effect of physiology was more directly observed. We introduce to these models an evaporative loss term that is a function of environmental temperatures. The inclusion of this function produces model predictions that mimic the observed seasonal fluctuations and match observations to within 1.0‰. These results increase the applicability of available physiological models for paleoseasonality reconstructions from stable isotope measurements in fossil or archaeological enamel, the composition of which is determined in equilibrium with blood values. However, significant blood δ 18 O variation in this experimentally controlled population should promote caution when interpreting isotopic variation in the archaeological and paleontological record.

A geostatistical model to predict human skeletal oxygen isotope values (δ 18 O p) in Britain is presented here based on a new dataset of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age human teeth. The spatial statistics which underpin this model allow the identification of individuals interpreted as 'non-local' to the areas where they were buried (spatial outliers). A marked variation in δ 18 O p is observed in several areas, including the Stonehenge region, the Peak District, and the Yorkshire Wolds, suggesting a high degree of human mobility. These areas, rich in funerary and ceremonial monuments, may have formed focal points for people, some of whom would have travelled long distances, ultimately being buried there. The dataset and model represent a baseline for future archaeological studies, avoiding the complex conversions from skeletal to water δ 18 O values–a process known to be problematic. Understanding and reconstructing the mobility of past populations and individuals is important in archaeological and forensic studies. One of the ways to address this topic is through the chemical analysis of skeletal remains, for the life history of an individual is recorded in the chemistry and isotopes of his or her body tissues. The use of isotope geochemistry techniques to trace mobility of individuals 1–7 relies on the fact that the chemical composition of human (and animal) tissues is acquired principally through ingested food and drink, and the isotopic composition of these items is in turn determined by local climate and environmental conditions. Isotope ratios such as 18 O/ 16 O and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr are employed in soft and hard tissues to investigate origins and mobility of past populations. The relationship between the isotopic composition of local environments and the different biological tissues varies with the type of element and isotopes investigated, the tissue, and often the type of animal species 8,9. The partitioning of isotopes in the environment is, in turn, contingent on many factors, including the geological nature of the substrate, environmental conditions, soil type, hydrological circulation, amount of precipitation, plant species and their distribution 2,8,9. Oxygen isotopes in human hard tissues are commonly used in archaeological and forensic science to study residential changes between childhood and adulthood 10–13. Here, and for the rest of the paper, oxygen isotope ratios (18 O/ 16 O) are expressed with the delta (δ) notation as δ 18 O per mil (‰), where δ = R sa /R st –1, R being the isotopic ratio, sa the sample and st the reference standard. In obligate drinkers, such as is the case for humans, oxygen isotope values (δ 18 O) in bones and teeth are related to those of local water (rain-and groundwater). Longinelli and Peretti Padalino 14 demonstrated that a direct relationship exists between the δ 18 O of drinking water and the δ 18 O of blood water in mice and humans. Following these observations, Longinelli 15 and Luz et al. 16 found that a linear correlation also exists between the δ 18 O of human skeletal bone phosphate (δ 18 O p) and the mean annual precipitation (δ 18 O w) characteristic of the area where the individual lived. This correlation is explained by the fact that the mean annual isotopic value of the precipitation falling on a certain area is similar to that of plant food and water available to individuals dwelling in the area. If the nutrients are locally sourced, their isotopic composition is reflected in that of the body water. Since biological apatite precipitates in near equilibrium with body water, it

The preservation of trophic structure and climatic information in Kent's Cavern Upper Pleistocene mammal bones and teeth was assessed by comparing the isotopic composition of modern and fossil equivalents. Yields of collagen from both bone (N= 19) and tooth (N= 49) were extremely variable, with values relative to modern bone ranging from 0% to 100%. No evidence of preferential preservation of tooth collagen was detected. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic differences in the herbivore versus carnivore collagen from Kent's ...

- by Marilyn Fogel
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- Archaeology, Geochemistry, Archaeological Science, Isotope Ecology
- by Hugo F R Bucher
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- Palaeoclimatology, Paleontology, Stratigraphy, Paleoclimatology
- by Herve Bocherens and +1
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- Human Evolution, Carbon, Hominin Diet, Palaeoecology

Professor Dr Jochen Hoefs on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Oxygen isotope fractionation factors for phosphates were calculated by means of the increment method. The results suggest that Ag 3 PO 4 and BiPO 4 are enriched in 18 O relative to AgPO 4 , and the three phosphates are consistently depleted in 18 O relative to Ba 3 [PO 4 ] 2 ; fluorapatite and chlorapatite exhibit a similar behaviour of oxygen isotope fractionation with consistent enrichment of 18 O relative to hydroxya-patite. The valence, radii and coordination of metal cations play a quantitative role in dictating the 18 O/ 16 O partitioning in these phosphates of different compositions. The calculated fractionation factors for the Ag 3 PO 4 –H 2 O system are in agreement with experimental determinations derived from enzyme-catalysed isotope exchange between dissolved inorganic phosphate and water at the longest reaction durations at low temperatures. This demonstrates that the precipitated Ag 3 PO 4 has completely captured the oxygen isotope fractionation in the dissolved inorganic phosphate. The calculated fractionation factors for the F/Cl-apatite–water systems are in agreement with the enzyme-catalysed experimental fractionations for the dissolved phosphate–water system at the longest reaction durations but larger than fractionations derived from bacteria-facilitated exchange and inorganic precipitation experiments as well as natural observations. For the experimental calibrations of oxygen isotope fractionation involving the precipitation of dissolved phosphate species from aqueous solutions, the fractionation between precipitate and water is primarily dictated by the isotope equilibration between the dissolved complex anions and water prior to the precipitation. Therefore, the present results provide a quantitative means to interpret the temperature dependence of oxygen isotope fractionation in inorganic and biogenic phosphates.

- by Tamsin O'Connell
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- Archaeology, Geology, Climate Change, Quaternary

Stable and radiogenic isotope analyses provide increasingly important contributions to archaeological research. These include the establishment of chronologies, the description of past environmental and climatic conditions, and the reconstruction of human subsistence strategies and mobility patterns. These aspects are often interrelated and an optimal approach to archaeological research is one that integrates multiple sources of isotopic and archaeological data. For example, isotope-based human diet reconstruction requires a careful characterization of the isotopic composition of potential food groups. However, such an isotopic baseline will be influenced by environmental (e.g. climate) and anthropogenic (e.g. agricultural techniques) parameters. Furthermore, populations with high levels of mobility or that engaged in food trade could potentially have access to food groups having diverse isotopic signatures. Thus, a reliable isotope-based diet reconstruction requires the study of multiple facets using a combination of archaeological and isotopic data. Conversely, dietary information is crucial when chronologies are based on the radiocarbon dating of human remains given the potential for radiocarbon dietary reservoir effects resulting from the intake of aquatic food groups. These examples illustrate the need for an integrated approach to archaeological research.The main goal of this session is to demonstrate how isotopic data can be usefully employed to answer relevant archaeological questions. The session will especially welcome interdisciplinary contributions that integrate multiple sources of isotopic and archaeological data to put forward reliable interpretations of past human behaviour and of its development through time. Also welcomed are contributions that address methodological aspects of the use of isotopic data in archaeological research. These include discussions on adequate interpretations of isotopic data, reporting of the potentialities and limitations of different isotopic proxies, and the introduction of novel isotopic proxies relevant to archaeological research.

- by Ricardo Fernandes
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Archaeobotany, Pottery (Archaeology)

Résumé/Abstract Carbon and oxygen stable isotopic abundances of fossil mammals can provide valuable palaeoenvironmental information, provided that diagenesis did not alter the biogenic signal beyond recognition. An isotopic investigation of mammal bones and teeth from Calta (Pliocene, Turkey) demonstrates that enamel can be used for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, but that a diagenetic signal has been overprinted on dentine and bone.

This paper presents a compilation of strontium and oxygen isotope data from human tooth enamel that has been produced at NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory over the last c.15 years. These many and often small studies are here combined to provide an overview of data from Britain. The strontium
isotope composition ranges between 0.7078 and 0.7165 (excluding individuals deemed to be of non-British origin). The median Sr concentration is 84 ppm but there is a vector of increasing Sr concentrations related to seawater strontium isotope composition that is seen in individuals predominantly from the west coast of Scotland attributed to the used of kelp as a fertilizer. The oxygen isotope data is normally distributed with a mean value of 17.7 per mil +/- 1.4 per mil (2SD n = 615). Two subpopulations of local individuals have been identified that provide control groups for human enamel values from the eastern side of Britain where there are lower rainfall levels: 17.2 per mil +/- 1.3 per mil, (2SD, n = 83) and western area of Britain where rainfall levels are higher 18.2 per mil +/- 1 per mil, (2SD, n = 40). These data make it possible to make direct comparisons of population means between burial populations and
the control dataset to assess commonality of origin.

- by Herve Bocherens
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- Paleobiology, Paleodiet, Paleoecology, Stable Isotopes