Transport of sea spray aerosol in coastal areas (“sea spray” effect) can have a marked influence on isotopic ratios of terrestrial ecosystems shifting terrestrial isotopic ratios towards unusual high ...values masking the original terrestrial signature. It is unclear so far if and to what extend sea spray influences other stable isotopes besides sulphur. In this study, we examined if the effect was also detectable in carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotopes of bone collagen and carbonate, respectively.
Multi-isotope data of mammals sampled from the Viking Haithabu and medieval Schleswig sites in Northern Germany were analysed according to a previously developed approximation procedure and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) clustering in order to quantify the sea spray effect in the isotopes under study.
While we were able to approximate an influence of the sea spray effect of at least 32.8% and 62.8% in δ13Ccarb and δ18Ocarb, respectively, it was not possible to validate or approximate this effect in δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll. Indeed, detection of the sea spray effect not only in δ34Scoll, but also in δ13Ccarb and δ18Ocarb is of particular importance for studies on both prehistoric and recent material.
GMM clustering on terrestrial herbivorous and marine piscivorous mammals was used to confirm the existing influence and to validate the approximated correction for the sea spray effect in the respective isotopic ratios (δ13Ccarb, δ18Ocarb, δ34Scoll) and the correction for the limnic influence on δ15Ncoll approximated in a previous study. After correction, the clustering results markedly changed corresponding to the actual diet and habitat preference of the examined species. Although our study focused on palaeoecology, we suggest that GMM clustering also constitutes a very useful tool for modern landscape ecology based on stable isotope analyses.
•First approximation of sea spray effect on bone collagen and structural carbonate•Sea spray markedly changes δ13Ccarb, δ18Ocarb, and δ34Scoll ratios.•Validation of established correction procedure by Gaussian Mixture Model clustering•Limnic influence on δ15Ncoll validated by Gaussian Mixture Model clustering.•Corrected isotope values in accordance with actual diet and habitat preference
•A selected part of the population had been buried at the enclosure.•The burial population was drawn from different geographical zones.•(non) Local origin is not a factor in burial treatment.•People ...lived on a flexible multi-resource subsistence economy.•Sex differences in the daily diet with regard to the protein source are apparent.
The Neolithic Münchshöfen culture in southern Germany (5th mill. BC) lacks formal burial sites. Primary, secondary and partial burials are evidenced instead. Using the enclosure at Riedling, the largest burial collective known in the area to date, we gained more information on subsistence strategy, population structure and admixture by stable isotope analysis of the human skeletons. The remains of 39 individuals were discovered in the enclosure and the osteological investigation indicates burial of selected individuals. Radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios revealed that nine out of 20 individuals were not local to the site and that some of them had even migrated during childhood. The nearest possible place of origin is found across the Danube river, which obviously did not constitute a geographical obstacle. Isotopic sourcing of collagen δ13C and δ15N ratios revealed marked sex differences in the daily diet and showed that at least some of the non-locals had lived on different diets. Diet and isotopic provenance did not correlate with burial rite and no clear social hierarchies could be inferred. Morphology combined with stable isotope analysis revealed a dynamic Neolithic population with a multi-resource subsistence economy and interaction across a topographical boundary.
Ancient DNA (aDNA) recovered from plague victims of the second plague pandemic (14.sup.th to 17.sup.th century), excavated from two different burial sites in Germany, and spanning a time period of ...more than 300 years, was characterized using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. Of 30 tested skeletons 8 were positive for Yersinia pestis-specific nucleic acid, as determined by qPCR targeting the pla gene. In one individual (MP-19-II), the pla copy number in DNA extracted from tooth pulp was as high as 700 gene copies/mul, indicating severe generalized infection. All positive individuals were identical in all 16 SNP positions, separating phylogenetic branches within nodes N07_N10 (14 SNPs), N07_N08 (SNP s19) and N06_N07 (s545), and were highly similar to previously investigated plague victims from other European countries. Thus, beside the assumed continuous reintroduction of Y. pestis from central Asia in multiple waves during the second pandemic, long-term persistence of Y. pestis in Europe in a yet unknown reservoir host has also to be considered.
Stable oxygen isotopes of bone structural carbonate (δ
18
O
carbonate
) and phosphate (δ
18
O
phosphate
) are frequently used for paleoclimatological and paleoenvironmental studies. In several ...studies, the more conveniently measureable δ
18
O
carbonate
values are measured, and δ
18
O
phosphate
values are approximated according to published regressions. We studied a variety of individuals (
n
= 101) of different wild and domesticated mammal species (
n
= 19) from the Viking Haithabu and medieval Schleswig sites in Northern Germany and demonstrated that a generalized relationship between δ
18
O
carbonate
and δ
18
O
phosphate
with a fixed value for oxygen isotope spacing (Δδ
18
O) is potentially error-prone. The Δδ
18
O values of our data set differ considerably from the commonly applied, fixed value of about 9 ‰ with values ranging from 3.8 to 8.1 ‰ (
μ
= 6.1 ‰ ± 0.9 ‰). Statistically significant differences in the Δδ
18
O values and marked differences in linear models established for the relationship between δ
18
O
carbonate
and δ
18
O
phosphate
are related to species-specific diet and physiology. Therefore, such species-specific particularities must not be neglected. We conclude that this variability does no longer permit an approximation of oxygen isotope values of bone phosphate from carbonate, because δ
18
O
phosphate
values approximated in such a way are highly error-prone. Parallel analyses of both δ
18
O
carbonate
and δ
18
O
phosphate
values are therefore indispensable.
At the large Roman cemetery at Günzburg (Bavaria), 58 uncremated skeletons of small children who died before an age of 18 months have been excavated between the years 1976 and 2008, among them 42 ...neonates. Longitudinal thin sections of 30 primary teeth from ten neonates, six children between birth and six months of age, and three children between six and nine months of age, were prepared for the detection of presence or absence of the neonatal line. The teeth of those children where morphology indicated survival of birth for at least a few months served as control. If present, the neonatal line was clearly detectable, especially in primary molars. With regard to the variability of the developmental stage of a skeleton as indicated by morphological parameters, the presence of the neonatal line is clear evidence for birth survival for at least one or two weeks. According to this feature, 4 out of the 19 individuals had been aged either too young or too old. Since even short time survival of a newborn is dependent on parental investment, it is crucial to firmly distinguish a neonate from a perinatal child. We recommend that age estimation of infants should be augmented with histological features.
Sr/
Sr isotopic ratios in skeletal remains of archaeological vertebrates are used for provenance analysis since long. However, the definition of the past bioavailable isotopic ratio at the site of ...recovery is not known beforehand and geological maps can provide no more than gross expectations. Therefore, the assessment of the "local Sr isotopic signature" is still of crucial importance. In this study, we present a tool for the prediction of such local isotopic signatures by creating a concentration weighted mixing model that links lithospheric, biospheric, and atmospheric strontium per site. The major strontium sources and their input into an animal's body were assessed by choosing elemental strontium and its isotopic signature in groundwater, soil, vegetation, and precipitation as components for the mixing model, augmented by literature values. The model was applied to 24 sites located in the alpine transect of the Inn-Eisack-Adige-Brenner passage across the European Alps, a passage used since the Mesolithic. Predicted local bioavailable
Sr/
Sr ratios were compared with measured values from locally excavated archaeozoological bone samples from three taxa of large and mainly residential vertebrates (cattle, pig, red deer) to verify the models' accuracy. With regard to the fact that the environmental samples predict the past local bioavailable
Sr/
Sr at a specific site while the vertebrates had different and species-specific home ranges, thereby integrating strontium from a region of primarily unknown size, the model is capable of assigning reasonable expectation values. For 11 sites, up to 100% of the vertebrate isotopic signatures were correctly predicted. Mismatches at the remaining sites are explainable by special environmental factors, and also the fact that some import of animals can never be excluded beforehand. Suggestions for site-specific adjustments of the model are made.
With its impressive megalithic architecture dating to the tenth to ninth millennium cal. bc, the site of Göbekli Tepe (south-east Anatolia) is singular in the cultural history of mankind. Excavations ...at this ritual centre produced a rich archaeofaunal assemblage dominated by skeletal remains of Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). In order to trace relevant features of this species' behaviour in early Neolithic times relating to its dietary demands, catchment area and annual round, zooarchaeological analysis was complemented by stable isotope analysis of carbon, oxygen and strontium in tooth enamel and bone apatite. Demographic profiles and stable isotope results are consistent with a seasonal presence and hence migratory behaviour in gazelle. Conceivably working events, feasting and performing rituals at Göbekli Tepe coincided with high game density in the southern Anti-Taurus piedmont.
Strontium and lead stable isotopes, and element concentrations were measured in 12 uncremated skeletons from the Roman Stettfeld site (ca 150–300 CE; Baden-Württemberg, FRG). Samples were taken from ...three to five skeletal parts per individual that precipitated and/or accumulated trace elements at different ontogenetic stages, namely enamel of different permanent teeth, compact and trabecular bone, and new bone formations such as active periostitis or fracture callus. Six out of the 12 skeletons turned out to be immigrants to the site according to enamel and/or bone 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios. By use of enamel precipitation data, bone remodeling and strontium clearance rates from the skeleton, individual age at migration could be refined and showed that residence change took place during infancy or juvenile ages. One female skeleton exhibited negative turnover rates indicating a negative calcium balance. Together with a conspicuous sulcus praeauricularis and her young age-at-death, this is most plausibly interpreted as death shortly after pregnancy and birth. While the residence change of this female could have been due to exogamy, migration during childhood or juvenile age indicates movement of (family) groups of people. In Roman times, also slavery cannot be excluded. With regard to the geological variability at the site, catchment area of the immigrants should however have been small and was most probably restricted to the Black Forest and nearest surroundings. Rich ore deposits of the region, and the dependency of the Roman society from silver and lead, constituted a strong pull-factor that time. All but two individuals that had been identified as immigrants by 87Sr/86Sr exhibited skeletal lead stable isotopic ratios that are compatible with this region.
For most archaeometric analyses on archaeological bone material, such as the determination of the isotopic composition or genetic approaches, an advanced degree of diagenetic alteration can make ...designated analysis impossible. Since the lack of a positive signal is mostly seen only after time consuming and cost intensive sample processing, the need for an easy-to-apply screening method that allows a pre-selection of samples containing well-preserved biomolecules is obvious.
In this study, we visually determined the UV-induced autofluorescence of 76 horse bone cross-sections, all from prehistoric archaeological sites of varying environmental and chronological background. In order to assess the screening potential of this method, the macroscopic fluorescence appearance of each sample was compared to its degree of histological preservation, a feature which is also commonly utilised as a marker for overall biomolecular preservation in bone. Collagen content and quality as well as PCR-success for DNA analysis were determined and evaluated with regard to the positive/negative predictive value of UV fluorescence and histological screening. The aim was to create a screening method designed not only for daily laboratory practice, but also for archaeologists with no access to elaborate machinery and who need to pre-select the most promising samples to send out to a contractor for archaeometric analyses.
► We compare bone fluorescence to histological screening to assess overall preservation. ► Evaluating bone fluorescence increases the chance to choose well preserved specimens. ► We suggest using this method to identify samples most promising for further analyses. ► Fluorescence screening is slightly more effective than histological screening.
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