Mobility and diet in Prehistoric Denmark: strontium isotope analysis and incremental stable isotope analysis of human remains from the Limfjord area

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
LG Van der Sluis ◽  
JS Daly ◽  
KM Frei ◽  
PJ Reimer
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Strontium Isotope ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Strontium Isotope Analysis ◽  
Non Local

The Limfjord in Denmark held a prominent position throughout Prehistory as a natural communication port between east and west. Identifying the presence of non-local individuals might shed light on socio-economic and cultural changes occurring in the Limfjord area. Existing studies attempting to do so using strontium isotope analysis on Danish prehistoric remains focus on certain archaeological time periods and geographic locations, resulting in an uneven distribution of analysed material. This study aimed at filling a gap in the existing literature, both from a geographical as well as a chronological point of view. Additionally, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on bone and tooth dentine from these individuals was carried out to examine dietary changes between childhood and adulthood. The strontium isotope results revealed four non-local individuals, two from the Neolithic, one from the Early Roman Iron Age and one from the Germanic Iron/Viking Age. We conducted incremental stable isotope analysis of tooth dentine from the four non-local individuals to investigate the palaeodietary information in their dental records at a higher resolution and potentially pinpoint their age at the time of movement. The two Neolithic individuals revealed stable isotope ratios that might be indicative of stress.

scholarly journals Detecting Mobility in Early Iron Age Thessaly by Strontium Isotope Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 590-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Panagiotopoulou ◽  
Janet Montgomery ◽  
Geoff Nowell ◽  
Joanne Peterkin ◽  
Argiro Doulgeri-Intzesiloglou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Tooth Enamel ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Strontium Isotope ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Burial Practices ◽  
Strontium Isotope Analysis ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
Non Local

This article presents evidence of population movements in Thessaly, Greece, during the Early Iron Age (Protogeometric period, eleventh–ninth centuriesbc). The method we employed to detect non-local individuals is strontium isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr) of tooth enamel integrated with the contextual analysis of mortuary practices and osteological analysis of the skeletal assemblage. During the Protogeometric period, social and cultural transformations occurred while society was recovering from the disintegration of the Mycenaean civilization (twelfth centurybc). The analysis of the cemeteries of Voulokaliva, Chloe, and Pharsala, located in southern Thessaly, showed that non-local individuals integrated in the communities we focused on and contributed to the observed diversity in burial practices and to the developments in the formation of a social organization.

The Contribution of Stable Isotope Analysis to the Study of Childhood Movement and Migration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie A. Hemer ◽  
Jane A. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Tooth Enamel ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Human Tooth ◽  
Population Mobility ◽  
Single Tooth ◽  
Non Local ◽  
And Migration

Stable isotope analysis is firmly established as a method for the investigation of past population mobility. The distinction between local and non-local individuals within a cemetery population relies on identifying an individual’s place of childhood residence through the analysis of strontium and oxygen isotopes present in human tooth enamel. Traditionally, studies investigating mobility focus on the analysis of a single tooth. More recently, however, it has become apparent that in order to investigate the mobility of an individual during childhood—and thus to consider the importance of children in the migration process—it is necessary to analyse a series of teeth which form at different stages during the early years of life. This chapter will consider the potential of—and challenges surrounding—this scientific approach to the investigation of childhood mobility in the past.

Temporal changes in diet: a stable isotope analysis of late Iron Age and Roman Dorset, Britain

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1149-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca C. Redfern ◽  
Christine Hamlin ◽  
Nancy Beavan Athfield
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Temporal Changes ◽  
Late Iron Age

scholarly journals Deciphering diet and monitoring movement: Multiple stable isotope analysis of the viking age settlement at Hofstaðir, Lake Mývatn, Iceland

2016 ◽  
Vol 160 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry L. Sayle ◽  
W. Derek Hamilton ◽  
Gordon T. Cook ◽  
Philippa L. Ascough ◽  
Hildur Gestsdóttir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Lake Mývatn

scholarly journals Spatially resolved LA-MC-ICPMS strontium isotope microanalysis of archaeological fauna

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Moffat ◽  
Chris Stringer ◽  
Rainer Grün
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Strontium Isotope ◽  
Strontium Isotope Analysis ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Geographic Origins ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Strontium Isotope Composition

The analysis of the strontium isotope composition of archaeological materials can provide important information about the mobility of a range of mammals, including humans. The basis of this method is that, prior to any postburial diagenesis, the Sr87/Sr86 ratio of bone and teeth reflects the geological environment from which food and water were sourced while these biominerals were forming. Teeth are particularly amenable to tracing the geographic origins of humans as they mineralize during the first 12–13 years of life (White and Folkens, 2005) and do not subsequently change strontium composition after this time (Schweissing and Grupe, 2003). Strontium isotope analysis can be used to determine if individuals are local or nonlocal by comparison to the isotopic composition in and around their burial location (i.e., Schweissing and Grupe, 2000; Bentley et al., 2007; Conlee et al., 2009). In order to quantify the extent of faunal mobility, the strontium isotope composition of biominerals from fossil samples needs to be compared with a regional map of values obtained either from local faunal material (Price et al., 2002) or from analysis of the bioavailable component of strontium from plants, regolith, or bedrock (Capo et al., 1998).Strontium isotope analysis has been extensively applied to the determination of archaeological mobility, as reviewed by Price et al. (2002), Budd et al. (2004), Bentley (2006), and Montgomery (2010). Although studies of Paleolithic or older archeological material are rare, some have been undertaken on hominins (Sillen et al., 1995, 1998; Richards et al., 2008; Copeland et al., 2011) and faunal material (Horn et al., 1994; Copeland et al., 2010; Britton et al., 2011).Enamel has been shown to be the most favorable material for strontium isotope analysis based on its ability to resist postburial alteration far better than dentine, cement, or bone (Trickett et al., 2003). Enamel of some species grows over extended periods and, when analyzed with microprofiling or laser ablation analysis, can be used to reconstruct comprehensive life histories. This approach demonstrated the seasonal mobility of cattle in Iron Age Britain (Horstwood et al., 2008), Neolithic Germany (Bentley and Knipper, 2005), and England (Viner et al., 2010).

RE-EVALUATING THE BRONZE AND EARLIEST IRON AGE IN LATVIA: CHANGES IN BURIAL TRADITIONS IN THE LIGHT OF 14C DATES

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1845-1868
Author(s):  
Dardega Legzdiņa ◽  
Andrejs Vasks ◽  
Eduards Plankājs ◽  
Gunita Zariņa
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Archaeological Chronologies

ABSTRACTUntil recently, there was a lack of radiocarbon (14C) dates from the Bronze and Earliest Iron Age (1800–500–1 BC) burial sites in Latvia. The chronology of the sites was assessed on the basis of archaeological analogies with neighboring regions and typological studies of the rather meagre grave inventory. In order to establish a firm foundation for an absolute chronology of burial sites and to better understand changes in mortuary practices during the period, sequences of samples from various burial sites have been dated. In this paper we report 48 14C dates from 12 different sites and discuss them in the context of previously established archaeological chronologies. 14C reservoir effects are addressed: regarding FRE, stable isotope analysis is helpful; however, more data should be gathered in future research. In some cases, the new dates are in accord with previous chronologies, while in other cases some widely accepted assumptions may need to be revised. The new dates have proved false several previous assumptions about both the dates of individual graves and whole sites. Based on the 14C dates, we model the chronological spread of burial barrows in Latvia along waterways, the earliest examples appearing in coastal western Latvia.

Metals and millets: Bronze and Iron Age diet in inland and coastal Croatia seen through stable isotope analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Lightfoot ◽  
Mario Šlaus ◽  
Petra Rajić Šikanjić ◽  
Tamsin C. O’Connell
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis
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