湖北青龙泉遗址东周时期墓葬出土人骨的稳定同位素分析

本文应用稳定同位素分析技术对湖北青龙泉遗址东周时期墓葬出土人骨中的C、N同位素比值进行了测定。结果显示:青龙泉遗址东周时期居民日常饮食习惯中保持着较低比例的动物性食物摄入,植物类食物的摄入中以C3类植物为主,很可能来源于稻谷,还有部分C4类植物的摄入,来源于粟米。本文的研究可以为复原青龙泉遗址东周时期居民的经济模式研究提供有益的线索。     

Stable isotope insights (δ18O, δ13C) into cattle and sheep husbandry at Bercy (Paris,France, 4th millennium BC): birth seasonality and winter leaf foddering

Abstract

Bercy is a prehistoric village sited by the Seine river (Paris, France), whose main period of occupation was dated to the very beginning of the 4th millennium BC. The animal subsistence economy relied heavily on cattle husbandry, complemented by other species including sheep. Cattle and sheep isotopic history (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O) was investigated at the seasonal scale, through sequential sampling in tooth enamel, providing new insights into seasonality of birth and diet. Sheep were lambing in mid-spring, only slightly later than expected from what is observed nowadays in temperate Europe at similar latitude. Cattle were born over a period spanning approximately six months, which was an unexpected result compared with a two to three months calving period in free-ranging cattle populations. The extension of the calving period might have been related to seasonal food supplementation. Some cattle and some sheep fed on a ¹³C-depleted resource in winter, potentially leafy fodder. A direct consequence of an extended calving period would be the availability of cow milk, which would have covered the whole year at Bercy. This is important information in a context where the exploitation of cattle milk by the human community was highly suspected from the demographic management of the herd.     

Bone stable isotope studies in archaeology

Stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in bone have become increasingly frequent inclusions in archaeological reports over the past few decades. The majority of such studies has been done in North America, where the use of marine foods and the introduction of maize have been monitored. Similar questions have been addressed in Mesoamerica and South America. In Europe, stable isotope ratios have documented the shift from marine fishing and gathering to agriculture in coastal areas and the introduction of millet in parts of eastern and southern Europe. Much work remains to be done in Asia, where millet replaced early C3 plant foods and, in turn, was replaced by rice. In Africa marine adaptations, freshwater fishing, agriculture, and pastoralism all yield diagnostic isotopic signatures. We review these studies, discuss areas requiring further study, and close with discussions of areas promising interesting future developments.     

甘肃酒泉西沟村魏晋墓铜甑釜残留物的脂质分析

残留物分析可为器物用途提供直接证据。铜甗是古代重要的炊具之一,其用途在文献上有较多记载,但残留物分析甚少。甘肃酒泉西沟村魏晋墓M5出土铜甑釜(分体甗)下半部分的釜内存有一些白色膏状残留物,为了解其生物来源和该器物的功能,本工作利用红外光谱、脂质分析及单体脂肪酸稳定碳同位素等方法进行了综合分析。结果表明,这些白色膏状残留物应为反刍动物油脂,推测是蒸制铜甑中的牛肉或羊肉时渗流下来而成,这为该釜甑组合作为炊蒸器用于加工肉食提供了有力证据。鉴于墓M5具有浓郁的游牧文化风格,而铜甗是典型的中原汉人炊具,这也反映了魏晋时期当地汉人与北方游牧民族在饮食文化方面的交流与融合。     

Carbon isotope measurement techniques for bone collagen: Notes for the archaeologist

Stable carbon isotope analysis of archaeological human bone collagen is becoming increasingly useful in diet reconstructions. This paper describes, for archaeologists, the techniques that we have found useful in carrying out such analyses, and discusses the requirements for measurement accuracy and inter-laboratory calibration.     

Investigating the dietary life histories and mobility of children buried in St Gertrude Church cemetery,Riga, Latvia, 15th–17th centuries ad*

Carbon and nitrogen isotope profiles were obtained from incremental dentine analysis of 19 non-adults from a cemetery in Riga, Latvia. The research compared the life histories and diet between people buried in two mass graves and the general cemetery. The δ¹³C profiles of several children from the mass graves were similar but did not resemble the patterns seen in children from the general cemetery, suggesting that they probably represented a different population group. The rise in δ¹⁵N values towards the end of the life of four individuals from one mass grave suggests they were victims of an historically documented famine.     

A stable isotope method for identifying transatlantic origin of pig (Sus scrofa) remains at French and English fishing stations in Newfoundland

From the 16th century onward, various European nations shared fishing spaces off the coast of Newfoundland in an effort to provide salt-fish products to supplement increasing European demand. Faunal remains excavated at seasonal and permanent Newfoundland fishing stations indicate that pigs were the primary mammal species consumed by cod fishermen. It is not clear whether these pig remains derive from salt pork and/or live pigs imported from Europe or, rather, from pigs bred and raised in Newfoundland. Based on the notion that Newfoundland-raised pigs would have had greater access to marine-derived foods from nearby fisheries compared to their European-raised counterparts, we analyzed stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values from 28 pigs and 117 other faunal specimens from Dos de Cheval (EfAx-09) and Ferryland (CgAf-02) in order to identify individuals with marine or terrestrial isotope dietary signatures. Results indicating two distinct groups of pigs with mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values differing by ∼6‰ and ∼9‰, respectively, suggest differing pig-product origins at each site. This method for identifying the transatlantic origin of pig remains has potential to shed light on patterns in the provisioning of the early European transatlantic fishing industry and inter-community relations. It may also allow for the development of more sophisticated body part representation models for zooarchaeological reconstruction of barreled salt pork use.     

Microstructural,chemical and isotopic evidence for the origin of late neolithic leather recovered from an ice field in the Swiss Alps

Archaeological leather samples recovered from the ice field at the Schnidejoch Pass (altitude 2756 m amsl) in the western Swiss Alps were studied using optical, chemical molecular and isotopic (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of the bulk leather, and compound-specific δ¹³C analyses of the organic-solvent extracted fatty acids) methods to obtain insight into the origin of the leather and ancient tanning procedures. For comparison, leathers from modern native animals in alpine environment (red deer, goat, sheep, chamois, and calf/cow) were analyzed using the same approach. Optical and electron microscopically comparisons of Schnidejoch and modern leathers showed that the gross structure (pattern of collagen fibrils and intra-fibrils material) of archaeological leather had survived essentially intact for five millennia. The SEM studies of the hairs from the most important archaeological find, a Neolithic leather legging, show a wave structure of the hair cuticle, which is a diagnostic feature for goatskins. The variations of the bulk δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values, and δ¹³C values of the main fatty acids are within the range expected for pre-industrial temperate C₃ environment. The archaeological leather samples contain a mixture of indigenous (from the animal) and exogenous plant/animal lipids. An important amount of waxy n-alkanes, n-alkan-1-ols and phytosterols (β-sitosterol, sitostanol) in all samples, and abundant biomarker of conifers (nonacosan-10-ol) in the legging leathers clearly indicate that the Neolithic people were active in a subalpine coniferous forest, and that they used an aqueous extract of diverse plant material for tanning leather.     

广州地区出土西汉青铜器矿料来源分析

广州地区出土汉代青铜器数量众多,在考古学方面研究成果不少,但通过科技考古研究其产地的却不多。为研究广州地区出土西汉青铜器矿料来源,通过对广州出土西汉青铜器进行成分分析和铅同位素比值测试,与广西、江西、云南、贵州、安徽、湖北、河南、河北、北京等地出土同时期青铜器成分进行比较,发现西汉中晚期各地青铜器合金配比情况基本趋同。且根据含砷等微量元素这一显著特征,认为与广西合浦出土同时期青铜器矿料可能来自同一个地方。测试的铅同位素比值高度集中,其矿料应该来自同一个地方。分别与广东、贵州、云南、陕西、河南等地战国至西汉青铜器铅同位素比值进行比对,发现与广东、贵州、云南出土青铜器矿料来源同属一个大的成矿区,与河南、陕西等地明显区别。验证了学者们在考古学研究认为岭南地区出土西汉青铜器产自本地的观点。     

Trends in pig product processing at British Neolithic Grooved Ware sites traced through organic residues in potsherds

Gas chromatography (GC), GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-combustion-isotope ratio MS (GC-C-IRMS) analyses of absorbed and surface lipid residues preserved in potsherds were used to explore the extent of pig product processing exploitation in the later British Neolithic Grooved Ware tradition. Assessments were made regarding whether porcine lipids were associated with specific Grooved Ware traits, i.e. decoration, substyle, geographical area and type of site. Two hundred and twenty-two Grooved Ware potsherds were analysed, 70% of which contained lipid concentrations considered significant (>5 μg g⁻¹). All the lipid residues were dominated by animal fats, although plant and beeswax were also detected in a small number of extracts. δ¹³C values of the major fatty acid components of degraded animal fats (C_16:0 and C_18:0) were determined for 126 extracts and used to assign ruminant or porcine origins to the residues; 16% of these were found to have a predominantly porcine isotope signature. Statistical associations with pig exploitation were shown to exist with substyle, geographical area and site type, whereas, no relationship was seen between decoration and the type of commodity processed. Intact triacylglycerols were preserved in 19% of the sherds; half of these had distributions consistent with the identifications based on δ¹³C values, the remainder differed either due to the presence of mixed commodities or because lower molecular weight homologues had been lost due to degradation. In addition to the detection of pig exploitation, results from lipid residue analysis showed a good correlation with faunal assemblages, suggesting that stable isotope analysis may be used as a proxy for animal exploitation at sites where bones have not survived.