Strontium Isotope Analysis

Objectives: Mound 72 at Cahokia figures prominently into interpretations of early Mississippian sociopolitical development. A previous study utilizing dental morphology concluded that the groups of mostly young adult females interred in four mass graves in Mound 72 were likely not from Cahokia and possibly reflect sacrificial offerings from outside communities. The purpose of this study is to reevaluate these findings using multiple indicators of biological relatedness and place of origin/migration. Materials and Methods: Biological relatedness in Mound 72 was examined using dental metrics and morphology. Four additional archaeological samples from nearby sites were included to better assess biological variation within Mound 72. Strontium isotope analysis ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) was also conducted on individuals from several burial features in Mound 72 to determine heterogeneity in place of origin.

SUMMARY: Chapter 7, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers how to assess past subsistence and diet, including plant food (e.g., macro- and microbotanical remains; plant residues; seasonality; domestication), animal resources (e.g., macro-faunal remains; age, sex, and seasonality; domestication; small fauna; types of exploitation), and assessing diet from human remains (e.g., stomach contents; feces; teeth; isotopic methods; bone collagen).  A small case study is placed at the end of this ppt. lecture, emphasizing some aspects of subsistence.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record. UPDATED May 2023.

Mound 72 at Cahokia figures prominently into interpretations of early Mississippian sociopolitical development. A previous study utilizing dental morphology concluded that the groups of mostly young adult females interred in four mass graves in Mound 72 were likely not from Cahokia and possibly reflect sacrificial offerings from outside communities. The purpose of this study is to reevaluate these findings using multiple indicators of biological relatedness and place of origin/migration. Biological relatedness in Mound 72 was examined using dental metrics and morphology. Four additional archaeological samples from nearby sites were included to better assess biological variation within Mound 72. Strontium isotope analysis ((87) Sr/(86) Sr) was also conducted on individuals from several burial features in Mound 72 to determine heterogeneity in place of origin. Biodistance studies indicate that individuals in the four mass graves are phenotypically similar to other groups in the region...

Ö z e t: Kestane (Castanea sativa Mill.), fındık (Corylus avellana L.) ve antepfıstığı (Pistacia vera) meyveleri bakımından değerlendirilen önemli ağaç türleridir. Meyveler, pastacılık, şekerleme, tatlı ve yağ sanayi vb. birçok alanda değerlendirilmektedir. Bu ağaç türlerinin meyveleri kullanılırken meyve kabukları atıl olarak düşünülmekte ve yakılarak enerji üretimi amacı dışında pek fazla kullanım alanı bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışmada kestane, fındık ve antepfıstığı meyve kabuklarının kimyasal analizleri yapılmıştır. Bu maksatla örneklerde hücre çeperi ana bileşenleri ve yan bileşenlerinin miktarları belirlenmiştir. Holoselüloz miktarı baz alındığında antepfıstığı meyve kabuklarının en yüksek değere sahip olduğu ( %78.46) tespit edilmiştir. Lignin miktarı ise fındık meyve kabuklarında (%45 .62) en yüksek değerdedir. Bunun yanısıra çözünürlük değerlerinde %1'lik NaOH çözünürlüğü en yüksek olarak kestane meyve kabuklarında (%56 .76), sonrasında fındık meyve kabuklarında (%19.78) en düşük olarak da antepfıstığı meyve kabuklarında (%10 .00) tespit edilmiştir.

Major transitions in subsistence, settlement organization, and funerary architecture accompanied the rise and fall of extensive trade complexes between southeastern Arabia and major centers in Mesopotamia, Dilmun, Elam, Central Asia, and the Indus Valley throughout the third and second millennia BC. I address the nature of these transformations, particularly the movements of people accompanying traded goods across this landscape, by analyzing human and faunal skeletal material using stable strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotopes. Stable isotope analysis is a biogeochemical technique utilized to assess patterns of residential mobility and paleodiet in archaeological populations. Individuals interred in monumental communal tombs from the Umm anNar (25002000 BC) and subsequent Wadi Suq (20001300 BC) periods from across the Oman Peninsula were selected, and the enamel of their respective tomb members analyzed to detect (a) how the involvement of this region in burgeoning pan Gulf exchange networks may have influenced mobility, and (b) how its inhabitants reacted during the succeeding economic collapse of the early second millennium BC. Due to the commingled and fragmentary nature of these remains, the majority of enamel samples came from a single tooth type for each tomb (e.g., LM 1 ) to prevent v Dedicated to my wonderful parents, Larry and Susan, and to my sisters and best friends, Lindsay and Lauren vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the support and assistance of many individuals.

†This paper is dedicated to the memory of Tina Hayes, whose infectious enthusiasm contributed so much to this work. This paper presents a pilot study of strontium (Sr) isotope ratios from Iron Age horse tooth enamel samples. It compares 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios from horse teeth to estimates for local ranges of biologically available strontium, to investigate whether horses were being bred at the sites where their remains were discovered. A horse from Middle Iron Age Rooksdown, Hampshire, was not bred at the site but, rather, came from as far away as Wales, Scotland or continental Europe. Horse teeth from Middle Iron Age Bury Hill, Hampshire, returned 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values typical of local chalkland.

The ancient city of Harlaa in eastern Ethiopia was occupied between the mid-6th and early 15th centuries AD and played a significant role as a trading centre with links internationally. Besides goods, these trade links also served in spreading cultural and religious ideas between continents, including Islamic traditions which became prevalent in Ethiopia during this time.

Following a mid twelfth-century BC demographic crisis, Frattesina, in northern Italy, arose as a prominent hub linking continental Europe and the Mediterranean, as evidenced by the remarkable variety of exotic materials and commodities discovered at the site. Debate persists, however, about the extent to which migrants influenced the foundation and development of Frattesina. The authors present the results of strontium isotope analyses, which suggest significant migration to the site, particularly of elites, mostly from within a 50km radius. Among these non-indigenous people, the authors identify a 'warrior-chief', whom they interpret as representing a new, more hierarchical society.

87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios of cedar wood from forests in the East Mediterranean have been compiled in order to investigate the feasibility of provenancing archaeological cedar wood finds. Cedrus sp. forests furnished a great amount of wood in antiquity, for purposes ranging from ship to temple construction, and for fashioning cult statues and sarcophagi. The 87Sr/86Sr signatures of archaeological cedar samples may be compared with the preliminary dataset presented here to help determine the geographic origin of wooden artifacts. Sample sites include two forest areas in the Troodos Massif of Cyprus, five in the Lebanon, and two in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains. Sr ratios for wood varieties (i.e., early heartwood, late heartwood, sapwood, and twig wood) demonstrate relative uniformity between the xylem types frequently recovered from archaeological contexts. As such, this pilot study also assesses important issues of archaeological sampling and the geographical factors that influence Sr uptake in cedar trees of this region. While the regional signatures are distinct in most cases, small sample sizes and range overlap indicate the need for additional methods to make a case for a certain source forest. Alone, this method continues to be best used to disprove assumed wood provenances.

This paper applies an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to the human and cultural remains recovered from the cemetery of El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba. The study of this indigenous cemetery, dated to late prehistoric and early contact period, provides new insights into the issue of Indigenous-European interaction and processes of culture contact. The authors have used an integrated osteoarchaeological approach, combining a demographic study of the population, the study of intentional cranial modification, dental anthropology and strontium isotope analysis with a (re)analysis of the material culture encountered in the burial context. This dynamic period of contact and interaction between the indigenous population and Europeans appears to be characterized by a greater degree of cultural, social, and biological diversity than hitherto recognized in the Caribbean archaeological record.

Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis has been performed on a selection of human teeth dating from late Iron Age and early Medieval Ireland to test the hypothesis that the appearance of new burial rites was associated with phases of migration from, and contact with, the Roman and Late Antique world. In particular, the appearance of crouched inhumations from the beginning of the 1st century CE, and the appearance of extended supine inhuma-tions alongside the reappearance of crouched burials after the c. 4th century CE are investigated. Isotopic data favours the presence of non-local individuals during both periods. As parallels for virtually all of these new burial practices can be found elsewhere, for example throughout Iron Age and Roman Britain, the data are seen to support previously proposed theories that such burial practices were intrusive and reflected new rites associated with migrant peoples. This adds to the increasing body of evidence demonstrating that rather than being isolated, Ireland was very much part of a connected Europe throughout the entire period of Roman administration in the western provinces, and in the centuries after its demise.

The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr value of Sr dissolved in the world's oceans varied though time in a known way, facts that allow 87 Sr/ 86 Sr to be used to date and to correlate marine sedimentary rocks worldwide. In this work, the variation in 87 Sr/ 86 Sr is displayed graphically and the theory and practice of the methodology is discussed. Chapter Outline 7.

In this study, we present osteological and strontium isotope data of 29 individuals (26 cremations and 3 inhumations) from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of the largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries in Hungary. The site is located in the northern part of the Csepel Island (a few kilometres south of Budapest) and was in use between c. 2150 and 1500 BC, a period that saw the rise, the apogee, and, ultimately, the collapse of the Vatya culture in the plains of Central Hungary. The main aim of our study was to identify variation in mobility patterns among individuals of different sex/age/social status and among individuals treated with different burial rites using strontium isotope analysis. Changes in funerary rituals in Hungary have traditionally been associated with the crises of the tell cultures and the introgression of newcomers from the area of the Tumulus Culture in Central Europe around 1500 BC. Our results show only slight discrepancies between inhumations and cremations, as well as differences between adult males and females. The case of the richly furnished grave n. 241 is of particular interest. The urn contains the cremated bones of an adult woman and two 7 to 8-month-old foetuses, as well as remarkably prestigious goods. Using 87Sr/86Sr analysis of different dental and skeletal remains, which form in different life stages, we were able to reconstruct the potential movements of this high-status woman over almost her entire lifetime, from birth to her final days. Our study confirms the informative potential of strontium isotopes analyses performed on different cremated tissues. From a more general, historical perspective, our results reinforce the idea that exogamic practices were common in Bronze Age Central Europe and that kinship ties among high-rank individuals were probably functional in establishing or strengthening interconnections, alliances, and economic partnerships

Isotopic proveniencing of all individuals from the ship and boat burials at Salme, Estonia, is the subject of this study of the interred human remains from around AD 750, at the beginning of the Viking period. The isotopic results indicate that the majority of these individuals came from a region with higher strontium isotopic ratios than those found in Estonia. There were five individuals, buried in Salme II-the ship burial with 34 individuals who exhibited lower strontium isotope ratios that might have come from the Swedish island of Gotland or several other possible places. The combination of isotopic signals and archaeological information suggests that the majority of buried individuals (those with higher strontium isotope ratios) came from the Mälaren Valley in east-central Sweden.

What does a dog burial from Kipp Ruin (LA 153645), a multi-component site (100 BC AD 1450) on the lower Mimbres River, reveal about prehistoric peoples of the American Southwest? Since dog (Canis familiaris) domestication from the gray wolf (Canis lupus) at least 16,000 years ago (Perri 2017; Perri et al. 2019), the parallel life histories developed between humans and dogs creates a unique opportunity to learn about prehistoric peoples by studying their dogs. In the American Southwest, burial context and skeletal evidence often indicate inclusion in ceremonial practices, such as interment in kivas, burial within human graves, or decapitation (e.g., Akins 1985; Lev-Tov 2014; Martin 1940; Roberts 1929). Dogs also served myriad everyday roles in human society, including as hunting companions and guardians of the home and crops (e.g., Brody 2004; Fugate 2010; Pferd 1987; Schwartz 1997). The Canine Surrogacy Approach postulates that dogs had similar diets to humans and accompanied them during moves, allowing us a glimpse into human dietary practices and population movement through analyses of carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotopes from dogs (Guiry 2012, 2013). Archaeological and ethnographic studies contextualize the zooarchaeological and isotopic analyses of a Georgetown phase (AD 550-650) dog burial from Kipp Ruin. This multi-faceted investigation reveals the potential to learn substantial information about prehistoric human populations by studying their dogs.

Excavations at Cliffs End Farm undertaken in 2004/5 uncovered a dense area of archaeological remains including Bronze Age barrows and enclosures, a large prehistoric mortuary feature, and a small early 6th to late 7th century Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery. An extraordinary series of human and animal remains were recovered from the Late Bronze Age–Middle Iron Age mortuary feature, revealing a wealth of evidence for mortuary rites including exposure, excarnation and curation.

The site seems to have been largely abandoned in the later Iron Age and very little Romano-British activity was identified. In the early 6th century a small inhumation cemetery was established. Very little human bone survived within the 21 graves, where the burial environment differed from that within the prehistoric mortuary feature, but grave goods indicate ‘females’ and ‘males’ were buried here. Richly furnished graves included that of a ‘female’ buried with a necklace, a pair of brooches and a purse, as well as a ‘male’ with a shield covering his face, a knife and spearhead. Overlapping with the use of the cemetery in the Early Anglo-Saxon period, but continuing into, at least, the 11th century, are 74 pits confined to the southern part, many of which contain large quantities of marine shell, probably consumed locally at communal gatherings.

English Heritage funded an extensive programme of radiocarbon and isotope analyses, which have produced some surprising results that shed new light on long distance contacts, mobility and mortuary rites during later prehistory.

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

A recent study by Thomsen and Andreasen (2019) has induced a negative reaction to the utility of strontium isotope proveniencing in Denmark. Although there are higher strontium isotope values in the landscape, Thomsen and Andreasen are not correct about the impact of their finding on studies of prehistoric mobility. Several case studies identify such “hotspots” in the landscape and help evaluate their consequences for identifying non-local individuals. In sum, (1) there are small areas of higher strontium isotope values in Denmark, (2) surface water is not a reliable proxy for baseline information on local strontium isotope sources, and (3) strontium isotope proveniencing remains a very useful method for identifying non-local individuals.

Soziale und religiöse Umbrüche im Spiegel von Gräbern-Einleitung Die Arbeiten auf dem Gräberfeld von Stolpe erfolgten zunächst als Kooperation des Brandenburgischen Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege und Archäologischen Landesmuseums (Dr. Th. Kersting, Zossen-Wünsdorf) (fortan: BLDAM) sowie des Seminars für Vor-und Frühgeschichte der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Verfasser unter Mitarbeit von Ph. Roskoschinski M. A.) (2012/13). Für die geophysikalischen Untersuchungen (2016) konnte das Institut für Geowissenschaften der Universität Potsdam gewonnen werden (Prof. Dr. J. Tronicke, Dr. E. Lück), betreut vonseiten des BLDAM v. a. durch Dr. Chr. Krauskopf. Die Hauptuntersuchungen im Jahre 2017 fanden als Kooperationsprojekt des Instituts für Geschichte der Universität Breslau (Wrocław) (Prof. Dr. St. Rosik), des BLDAM, der Archäolo

A chance discovery at a distinguished London map fair in 2012 by a Belgian globe collector produced the most unique of finds: a distinct globe with mysterious images, such as ships, sailors, a volcano, a unique hybrid monster, pentimenti, waving patterns, conic individualised mountains, curving rivers, vigorous coastal lines, chiaroscuro and an unresolved triangular anagram, which remains an enigma.

The globe is hand-engraved in great detail on ostrich egg shells from Pavia by the left-handed Renaissance genius of unquestionable quality.

It shows secret knowledge of the map world from the time of Columbus, Cabral, Amerigo Vespucci and Leonardo da Vinci.
Central and North America are covered by a vast ocean.

The Da Vinci globe originates from Florence and dates from 1504.

It marks the first time ever that the names of countries such as Brazil, Germania, Arabia and Judea have appeared engraved on a globe.

A Leonardo drawing for this globe dating from 1503, showing the coast of the New World and Africa has been discovered in the British Library in the Codex Arundel.

This reference publication (www.cambridgescholars.com) brings the reader through a fabulous journey of scholars, maps, riddles, rebuses, iconographic symbols and enigmatic phrases such as HIC SVNT DRACONES and ANFVROIN to illuminate the Da Vinci globe.

It details 500 years of mystery, fine scholarship and expert forensic testing at numerous material science laboratories the world over.

The Da Vinci Globe now takes its rightful place, surpassing the Lenox globe, its copper-cast identical twin at the New York Public Library, as the most mysterious globe of our time.

As such, this reference work (ca. 300 pages, 820 footnotes) is an essential text in da Vinci studies and in the history of cartography.

MappaMondi/** OVo de Leonardo, globo da Vinci, del 1504 - TG1 cultura 14 NOVembre 2021, AmarCordes: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EiEzzrl_QY

https://www.cambridgescholars.com/the-da-vinci-globe

https://www.amazon.de/The-Da-Vinci-Globe/dp/1527511340/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538573637&sr=8-1&keywords=the+da+vinci+globe

https://books.google.at/books?id=MSTUtwEACAAJ&dq=the+da+vinci+globe&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXifXws-rdAhWGaVAKHdrSDE4Q6wEILDAA
https://www.treccani.it/magazine/atlante/cultura/Il_primo_mappamondo_con_le_Americhe.html

In Prague-Miškovice, a cemetery of the Únětice culture (UC) with a total of 44 graves was excavated between 1999 und 2001. The C14 dates range across the entire course of Central
Europe’s Early Bronze Age – from the proto-Únětice phase to the “post-classical” phase of the UC. The high point of the mortuary activities occurred between 2000 and 1750 BC
(classical UC). Archaeometallurgical and archaeological studies of the finds (chisel, axe, dagger blades, pins, rich amber ornaments, sea shells, etc.) reflect cultural relationships ranging from the Baltic to the Alpine region. It is to be assumed that the people of Central Bohemia during the classical UC, due to their excellent geographic location in regard to traffic routes, profited from trade in metals and amber.
The monograph brings the complex multidisciplinary analysis of the whole archaeological and anthropological material from the cemetery including the bayesian modelling of the 14C-dates, strontium and oxygen isotopy, lead isotopy, phosphate soil analysis and many others.

Objectives: The ancient city of Chichén Itzá in the northern Yucatán of Mexico was one of the most important in the Maya area, but its origins and history are poorly understood. A major question concerns the origins of the peoples who founded and later expanded the ancient city. Hundreds of people were ritually executed and their bodies thrown into the waters of the Sacred Cenote at Chichén. Materials and methods: In this study, we use strontium and oxygen isotopes to study the place of origin of a large sample of these individuals. Isotopes are deposited in human tooth enamel. Enamel forms during the first years of life, remains largely unchanged long past death, and can provide a signature of the place of birth. If the isotope ratios in enamel are different from the place of death, the individual must have moved during his/her lifetime. Results: Comparison of our results from the cenote with information on isotope ratios across the Maya region and elsewhere suggests that the individuals in the cenote came from a number of different parts of Mexico and possibly beyond. Discussion: It is not known if all of the sacrificial victims resided in Chichén Itzá, but their suggested origins likely reflect patterns of population movement and social networks that existed between Chichén Itzá and both neighboring and distant regions.

Nebringen, Münsingen and Monte Bibele – on the archaeological and bio-archaeometrical evidence of mobility in the 4th/3rd century BC The cemeteries Nebringen (Lkr. Böblingen/D), Münsingen-Rain (Kt. Bern/CH) and Monte Bibele (prov. Bolgna/I) are im- portant sites in the core country and periphery of the La Tène culture which expanded across the Alps up to Northern Italy in the 4th/3rd century BC. Some graves provide evidence for the mobility of the buried. This phenomenon is partly mirrored by the results of a strontium isotope analysis. It was shown that single individuals or small groups had changed their locality – however, the movement of large population groups as reported by the ancient authors under the title »Celtic migration« is not confirmed.

Gregoricka, L.A., Ullinger, J. M., and Schrenk, A. (2021). Set apart from within:
Articulated women in commingled tombs from Early Bronze Age Arabia.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 32(S1), 243-255..

The vast majority of individuals who died during the Umm an-Nar period (2700– 2000 BCE) of the Early Bronze Age (3200–2000 BCE) in south-eastern Arabia were interred within large communal tombs, and following decomposition, their skeletons became commingled with others. Here, two women are discussed whose skeletons remained articulated – one from Unar 2 at Shimal, and one from Tell Abraq. The Unar 2 female was left unburned, exhibited a pathological lesion on her talus, and was directly associated with an articulated dog, indicating that she may have en- gaged in hunting or herding activities despite her reduced mobility. The Tell Abraq woman suffered from paralytic poliomyelitis, suggesting that she received care as a member of her community despite her disability and non-local status. Whatever the role these women played in Umm an-Nar society, both were set apart in meaningful ways, speaking to an identity that granted them special status in death.

The objective of this study was to develop, test and evaluate a specifically defined interdisciplinary approach—the human-centred approach—as applied to a case study, Iron Age Öland. Four themes were selected to highlight different aspects of particular interest in Öland: taphonomy, diet, migration, and social organization. The uncremated human skeletal remains from Öland are the basis for this study. Different aspects of the bones, such as spatial distribution and chemical and physical properties, were investigated. The methods used include osteological methods, image-based modelling, isotopic analysis of bone (δ13C and δ15N; 14C) and enamel (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O), statistical modelling, and graph-based network analysis.
The great impact of the choice of methodology in the different papers was apparent in evaluating how the human-centred approach could be practiced.
The concept developed in Paper I, Virtual Taphonomy, provided deeper insight into the specific case study of Öland but also showed the potential of this methodology for archaeology and osteology in general.
The approach to migration in Paper II gave results differing from those in Paper IV. The use of a second isotope (δ18O) in Paper IV showed how some individuals were clearly not from an area close by enough to fit within the proposed areas in Paper II. Paper IV also questioned the definitions of 87Sr/86Sr baseline and the interpretation process for deciding whether an individual is determined as a migrant. While the population level approach to migration in Paper II allowed for a discussion on the mechanisms behind migration, the approach in Paper IV instead gave insight into the nature and expression of migration within Öland’s society.
In Paper III, it was demonstrated that a shift in diet (isotope variation) did not coincide with the relative typological chronology but instead should be studied by more independent chronology (such as 14C). The isotope results for Öland could also be interpreted completely differently today due to new standards for understanding how isotope values relate to human diet.
Paper V showed how a transparent analysis of isotope results, osteological analysis, and archaeological parameters could be used to discuss societal development using graph-based network analysis.
Using the human-centred approach to Iron Age Öland resulted in some new insights and a rethinking of society, particularly regarding diet and migration. The interpretation of the diet isotopes means that the pastoralist subsistence likely transformed the Ölandic landscape much earlier than previously thought. The dietary shift places the start of this in the final two centuries BC, not AD 200. In the Late Iron Age, the migration levels doubled, especially as women were immigrating. The people settling Öland were coming from diverse geographical areas in both periods, with the addition of more distant migrants in the Late period. I argue this is part of a creolization process in Öland in the Late Iron Age, detectable in burial practice and diet. The starting point of this great immigration is difficult to define as uncremated human remains are largely lacking in the period AD 200–700. Around AD 200, there is also a change in social organization indicated through the perceptible use of violence. I interpret this as a society where elders had diminished social power compared to earlier times, and when the increasing military focus throughout Scandinavia was also established in Öland.
In conclusion, the exploration of a human-centred archaeology gave new insights of relevance to archaeology at large, not just Iron Age Öland. In particular, the strong interpretational aspects of isotopes could be demonstrated, as well as the great advantages of applying digital archaeological theory and method to human skeletal remains.

The inclusion of radiogenic strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) 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.  The method also has been employed to establish the provenience of artifacts, ancient building materials, and foodstuffs as well as to track the origins and migratory patterns of prehistoric animals.  The present chapter provides an introduction to the fundamental principles, approaches, applications, and future directions of radiogenic strontium isotope analysis in archaeology.

Archaeological textiles recovered on two occasions from the Huldremose bog, Denmark, represent some of the best preserved and complete garments from the Danish Iron Age (500 BC–AD 800). In order to address the question regarding the provenance of the textile's raw material, we applied a recently developed method based on strontium isotopes to wool and plant fibres from these ancient garments. Textile plant fibres from Huldremose I find are of non-local provenance, whereas the wool from which the garment was made stemmed from sheep grazing on glaciomoraine soils developed on Cretaceous–Tertiary carbonate platform sediments widely found in Denmark. The Huldremose II find consists of an unusually large and well preserved garment, which is composed of wool from at least three different provenances. One source is again local, whereas the other two sources, characterized by elevated 87Sr/86Sr ratios, are compatible with geologically older (Precambrian) terrains which are typical for Northern Scandinavia, e.g. Norway or Sweden. Our study suggests that wool and plant fibres were either traded or brought as raw materials for textiles more commonly and over longer distances than previously assumed.

In this study a typical coastal karst aquifer, developed in lower Cretaceous limestones, on the western Mediterranean seashore (La Clape massif, southern France) was investigated. A combination of geochemical and isotopic approaches was used to investigate the origin of salinity in the aquifer. Water samples were collected between 2009 and 2011. Three groundwater groups (A, B and C) were identified based on the hydrogeological setting and on the Cl- concentrations. Average and maximum Cl- concentrations in therecharge waters were calculated (Cl Ref. and Cl Ref.Max ) to be 0.51 and 2.85 mmol/L, respectively). Group A includes spring waters with Cl- concentrations that are within the same order of magnitude as the Cl Ref
concentration. Group B includes groundwater with Cl- concentrations that range between the Cl Ref and Cl Ref.Max concentrations. Group C includes brackish groundwater with Cl- concentrations that are significantly greater than the Cl Ref.Max concentration. Overall, the chemistry of the La Clape groundwater evolves from dominantly Ca–HCO3 to NaCl type. On binary diagrams of the major ions vs. Cl, most of the La Clape
waters plot along mixing lines. The mixing end-members include spring waters and a saline component (current seawater or fossil saline water). Based on the Br/Cl molar ratio, the hypothesis of halite dissolution from Triassic evaporites is rejected to explain the origin of salinity in the brackish groundwater. Groundwaters display 87Sr/86Sr ratios intermediate between those of the limestone aquifer matrix and
current Mediterranean seawater. On a Sr mixing diagram, most of the La Clape waters plot on a mixing line. The end-members include the La Clape spring waters and saline waters, which are similar to the deep geothermal waters that were identified at the nearby Balaruc site. The 36Cl/Cl ratios of a few groundwater samples from group C are in agreement with the mixing hypothesis of local recharge water with deep saline water at secular equilibrium within a carbonate matrix. Finally, PHREEQC modelling was run based on calcite dissolution in an open system prior to mixing with the Balaruc type saline waters. Modelled data are consistent with the observed data that were obtained from the group C groundwater. Based on several trac-
ers (i.e. concentrations and isotopic compositions of Cl and Sr), calculated ratios of deep saline water in the mixture are coherent and range from 3% to 16% and 0% to 3% for groundwater of groups C and B, respectively. With regard to the La Clape karst aquifer, the extension of a lithospheric fault in the study area may favour the rise of deep saline water. Such rises occur at the nearby geothermal Balaruc site along another
lithospheric fault. At the regional scale, several coastal karst aquifers are located along the Gulf of Lion and occur in Mezosoic limestones of similar ages. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of these aquifers tend toward values of 0.708557, which suggests a general mixing process of shallow karst waters with deep saline fossil waters. The occurrence of these fossil saline waters may be related to the introduction of seawater during and after
the Flandrian transgression, when the highly karstified massifs invaded by seawater, formed islands and peninsulas along the Mediterranean coast.

differences in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in a population of prehistoric maize horticulturists. American Journal of Physical Anthropologists 90: 267-281. Keegan, W.F. and M.J. DeNiro 1988. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone collagen used to study coral reef and terrestrial components of prehistoric Bahamian diet. American Antiquity 53:320-336. Kellner, C.M. and M.J. Schoeninger 2007. A simple carbon isotope model for reconstructing prehistoric human diet.

Little synthesis of evidence for Middle Neolithic food and farming in Wiltshire, particularly in and around the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (WHS) has been possible, until now, due to a paucity of assemblages. The excavation of a cluster of five Middle Neolithic pits and an inhumation burial at West Amesbury Farm (WAF) has prompted a review of our understanding of pit sites of this period from the county. Bioarchaeological assemblages are used to investigate evidence for the consumption of animal and plant-based foods, and for agricultural and pastoral farming. For the first time Middle Neolithic zooarchaeological evidence, including strontium isotope data, is considered alongside archaeobotanical data, and radiocarbon dating. The absence of cultivated plants from WAF and contemporary sites in the county is consistent with the hypothesis that the reduction in cereal cultivation and greater reliance of wild plants witnessed in the later part of the Neolithic in southern England began in the Middle Neolithic. The zooarchaeological evidence from the same sites demonstrates that the shift away from cereal cultivation may be concurrent with, rather than earlier than, an increase in the relative proportion of deposited pig bones relative to cattle. Both cattle and pigs deposited in pits at WAF have strontium and sulphur isotope values consistent with the local biosphere, and therefore were potentially raised in the area. Zooarchaeological data from WAF compliments that from human dental calculus and lipid residues in associated Peterborough Ware pottery that local cattle husbandry included exploitation of dairy. It also highlights the presence of consistent food preparation methods between pits as seen through butchery practice. The faunal and archaeobotanical remains from contemporary pit deposits suggest that similar farming and subsistence strategies can be proposed across the county, though with some inter-site variation in deposition. Together these excavated pit sites are likely to represent only a sample of those present in the area. Application of a similar integrated approach to material from other Middle Neolithic pits holds potential for better understanding of food and farming in this previously neglected period.

This paper reports on a burial discovered in 2000 by the BVAR project in Plaza G of the Cahal Pech site core. Our stratigraphic data indicated that the grave had penetrated the last two plaza floors in the courtyard. The fact that neither of these floors were subsequently resurfaced strongly suggested that the burial was intrusive. The grave contained the remains of a young individual in fetal position and with no grave goods. Ever since its discovery in 2000, we had generally assumed that this interment, like several other intrusive burials at Cahal Pech, dated to the Terminal Classic period (~AD 750-900). Recent radiocarbon dating of purified bone collagen, combined with geochemical analysis of the skeletal remains, however, negate our previous assumptions and suggest that the individual in Plaza G Burial 1 is neither local nor ancient. In this paper, we present results of our attempts to unravel the mystery of the burial we have come to call Cahal Pech's Jane or John Doe.

One of the most important archaeological sites in Fiji is located in the Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park, on the southwest coast of Viti Levu. Numerous excavation projects at Sigatoka since the 1960s have revealed multiple episodes of human occupation, including burials, and a well-defined cemetery complex. This paper uses strontium isotope analysis of human remains from Sigatoka to investigate the residential mobility for 53 individuals from the site. In order to establish the local baseline of bioavailable strontium around Sigatoka, we have collected and measured the strontium isotopic compositions of 59 modern environmental samples from 15 localities across the island. Results suggest that the bioavailable strontium of Viti Levu is derived from a combination of oceanic-(i.e. sea spray) and geological-strontium, and the relative contribution of each source varies from location to location. This variation allows us to identify individuals from Sigatoka as being from local or non-local contexts, providing additional insight into the Fijian past.

Das Siegerland, eine Mittelgebirgslandschaft des Rheinischen Schiefergebirges im Süden von Nordrhein-Westfalen sowie im Norden von Rheinland-Pfalz, ist durch sein Relief, sein Klima sowie seine schweren Böden nie ein landwirtschaftlicher Gunstraum gewesen und daher keine Altsiedellandschaft. Die Region war hingegen wirtschaftlich bis in die zweite Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts aufgrund reicher Erzvorkommen bedeutend. Die weltgrößte Sideritlagerstätte (Siegerland-Wied-Distrikt) bietet in der Oxidationszone der Gangerze Hämatite, Limonite sowie Goethite und darüber hinaus im nördlichen Siegerland (Olpe-Müsen-Bezirk) weitere Mineralisationen, die u. a. Kupfer oder Silber liefern.
In einer Fallstudie an eisenzeitlichem Leichenbrand aus Netphen-Deuz werden archäologisch sowie anthropologisch Aspekte der Migration und des Kulturtransfers in diese (spätere) Montanlandschaft diskutiert. Auf der Grundlage des archäologischen Befundes konnte mittels 87Sr/86Sr-Isotopenanalysen der Einzugsbereich der Bestatteten wahrscheinlich gemacht werden. Die nordhessische Wetterau wird somit als Herkunfts- und Absatzgebiet der Siegerländer Montangemeinschaften wahrscheinlich.

Archaeological and anthropological aspects of migration and cultural transfer are discussed in a case study of Iran Age remated bones from Netphen-Deuz situated in the mining region Siegerland (southern Westphalia, Germany). Basing on the archaeological finds the possible origin of the buried individuals was reconstructed with the help of 87Sr/86Sr isotope analysis. The Wetterau in northern Hessia has figured out as a “base” of the Siegerland mining populations.

The colonisation of the North Atlantic from the eighth century AD was the earliest expansion of European populations to the west. Norse and Celtic voyagers are recorded as reaching and settling
in Iceland, Greenland and easternmost North America between c. AD 750 and 1000, but the date of these events and the homeland of the colonists are subjects of some debate. In this project, the birthplaces of 90 early burials from Iceland were sought using strontium isotope analysis. At least nine, and probably thirteen, of these individuals can be distinguished as migrants to Iceland from other places. In addition, there are clear differences to be seen in the diets of the local Icelandic peoples, ranging from largely terrestrial to largely marine consumption.

Khirigsuurs are communal ritual and mortuary monuments that featured prominently on Late Bronze Age pastoralist landscapes of the Mongolian steppe through the mid-late second millennium to early first millennium cal BC. Khirigsuurs sustained ceremonies that legitimized the relationship between the deceased and the participants, facilitated the formation of new alliances, and emphasized integration and cohesion between mobile pastoralist communities through monument building, ritual horse slaughter, and feasting. Horses played a prominent role in ceremonial activities conducted at khirigsuurs, their heads and hooves regularly deposited in small stone satellite mounds as part of publically visible ceremonies associated with mortuary celebrations that simultaneously integrated mobile pastoralist communities. Here, strontium and oxygen isotopic analyses of sequentially sampled teeth of horses from khirigsuurs located in the Khanuy Valley, a major center of monumental activity situated north of the Khangai mountains in Mongolia, indicate horses from distant locales were ceremonially placed in khirigsuur satellite mounds, while patterned seasonal variation in carbon isotopes suggests horses were fodder provisioned during the winter months. These isotopic data suggest horses were well cared for, reflecting their status as a prestige animal, and were key to facilitating regionally integrative ceremonial activities conducted at khirigsuurs that brought together people from geographically distant mobile communities.

Ridanäs was an important Viking Age trading port on the island of Gotland, Sweden, in use during the 7–11th centuries, CE. Excavations at Ridanäs have revealed the presence of two cemeteries containing over 80 individuals. This study uses strontium isotope data derived from tooth enamel to determine the prevalence of non-locals buried at this site. Tooth enamel samples from a total of 60 adults from Ridanäs were analyzed for strontium isotope ratios. In addition, archaeological faunal samples were analyzed to define the local bioavailable strontium isotope baseline range. Individuals were considered local if they fell within two standard deviations of the mean baseline data value. The mean of the local faunal samples was 0.712419 ± 0.0016. Results indicated that 8 of the 60 individuals were non-local to the site of Ridanäs and the island of Gotland. The eight non-locals were likely from areas in northern Sweden or Norway. Although migration was a hallmark of the Viking Age, data from this study indicates that non-local individuals were not buried at this trading port. The lack of non-locals may be due to the fact that foreign traders did not make permanent residency on Gotland, or that the Vikings on Gotland did not allow non-locals to take advantage of their trade economy.

This analysis of faunal bones from Wolf Village focuses on large game and its utility, as evidenced by what is known as the modified general utility index (MGUI). The MGUI proposes that bones at sites reflect transportation and butchering choices made by hunters at kill-butchering sites. According to the assumptions associated with the MGUI, hunters should select animal portions with high food value. The MGUI has been used in Fremont archaeology to provide a rough measure of site function. The expectation is that faunal bones would accompany the prized cuts of large game meat at habitation sites – and the animal parts with little food value would remain at kill-butchering sites because they are not worth the cost to carry them to the village. My analysis of large game animal bones found in excavations at Wolf Village counter these expectations. Fremont hunters at Wolf Village were returning to the site with low-caloric portions of large game, at least part of the time. Results from strontium isotope analysis suggest that many of the large game individuals hunted by the Fremont were not local to the immediate area. This suggests that hunters saw utility in low-caloric elements not related only to food value. Some low-caloric skeletal elements were used by the Fremont to construct bone tools and other objects, and as possible symbolic objects used in abandonment rituals. The results of this research suggests that the MGUI is not appropriate for measuring the utility of animal portions to the Fremont. Only when considering the social and non-caloric economic reasons for transporting low caloric elements, can archaeologists discover the true utility of large game animal parts to Fremont hunters.

El Prado es uno de los escasos yacimientos al aire libre del Neolítico Antiguo de la mitad norte peninsular. En la excavación arqueológica han sido documentadas cincuenta estructuras negativas asociadas a un poblado del Neolítico Antiguo con dataciones absolutas ca. 5295-4690 cal BC. Desde el punto de vista tipológico y funcional se documentan silos y fosas revestidas, fosas/cubetas no revestidas, fosas funerarias, estructuras relacionadas con el aprovechamiento del agua y una estructura de combustión. También hay una fosa ritual de tipo votivo del Neolítico Final (4045- 3299 BC). Se presenta un estudio multidisciplinar del único asentamiento al aire libre del Neolítico Antiguo que ha sido excavado íntegramente en el interior peninsular. Es un trabajo inédito que contribuye a explicar los primeros asentamientos neolíticos del oeste de Europa y las sociedades segmentarias a partir del uso del espacio, la cerámica, la industria lítica, el ritual funerario, la bioarqueología, el paleoambiente y la fauna.

El Prado is one of the few open-air Early Neolithic sites in the northern half of Spain. In the archaeological excavation of the site, fifty negative structures associated with an Early Neolithic settlement were documented, with absolute datings ca. 5295-4690 cal BC. From the typological and functional points of view, there are storage pits, coated pits, uncoated pits, burial pits, water storage structures and a Polynesian oven. There is also a votive-type ritual pit of the Late Neolithic (4045-3299 cal BC). The authors here present a multidisciplinary study of the only Early Neolithic open-air settlement that has been entirely excavated in the interior of Iberia. This is a previously unpublished study that helps to explain the first Neolithic settlements of Western Europe and segmental societies, through analyses of the use of space, ceramics, lithic tools, funerary ritual, bioarchaeology, the paleoenvironment and faunal remains.

This paper focuses on the palaeoethological study of steppe bison (Bison priscus), a Eurasiatic species that disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene. In the Southern steppe of Eastern Europe, this large bovid seems to have been a keystone species during the late Pleistocene, where it is omnipresent in archaeozoological assemblages and can constitute spectacular bone accumulations. Based on the principles of actualism, which assume that modern animal biology and their behavioural adaptations can be applied to the past, different models of bison palaeoethological reconstructions have been proposed to explain this important occurrence of bison in East European archaeological records. Considering the variability of extant bison behaviour, it appeared necessary to undertake a direct reconstruction of the behaviour of fossil bison, to assess how they were targeted.

The study of the Bom Santo Cave (central Portugal), a Neolithic cemetery, indicates a complex social, palaeoeconomic, and population scenario. With isotope, aDNA, and provenance, analyses of raw materials coupled with stylistic variability of material culture items and palaeogeographical data, light is shed on the territory and social organization of a population dated to 3800–3400 cal BC, i.e. the Middle Neolithic. Results indicate an itinerant farming, segmentary society, where exogamic practices
were the norm. Its lifeway may be that of the earliest megalithic builders of the region, but further research is needed to correctly evaluate the degree of this community’s participation in such a phenomenon.

Priešistorinių žmonių palaikų stroncio izotopų santykio analizė (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) leidžia įvertinti jų mobilumą ir identifikuoti pirmos kartos imigrantus, tačiau jos potencialas stipriai priklauso nuo tiriamo regiono geologijos heterogeniškumo ir biologiškai prieinamo stroncio 87 Sr/ 86 Sr santykio variacijos pažinimo. Lietuvos archeologijoje stroncio izotopų analizė pirmą kartą panaudota tik 2019-2020 m. Šiame straipsnyje aptarsime šio metodo taikymo galimybes pietryčių Baltijos regione, kurias iliustruosime Donkalnio ir Spigino akmens amžiaus kapinynų buvusiose Biržulio ežero salose tyrimu. Reikšminiai žodžiai: stroncio izotopų analizė, migracija, mobilumas, akmens amžius, Biržulio ežeras. Whilst the analysis of strontium isotope ratios (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) of human remains enables mobility patterns and migration events to be identified archaeologically, its potential is dependent on the heterogeneity of the underlying geology in the research area, and the knowledge of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio variation in the biologically available strontium. In Lithuanian archaeology, strontium isotope analysis has only been relatively recently undertaken (2019-2020). In this paper we discuss the potential of the method, and its application to materials from the Stone Age burial grounds of Donkalnis and Spiginas located on former islands in the Lake Biržulis region, western Lithuania.