In situ oxygen isotope micro-analysis of faunal material and human teeth using a SHRIMP II: a new tool for palaeo-ecology and archaeology

A Sensitive High Resolution Ion MicroProbe (SHRIMP II) has been used to make high spatial resolution in situ micro-analyses of oxygen isotopes in fish otoliths, and teeth from fossil herbivores and a Neanderthal. Large intra-tooth variations in the oxygen isotopic composition (up to 9‰) were observed in the enamel of herbivores from the Neanderthal fossil site of Payre, consistent with preservation of seasonal cyclicity. The range of isotopic compositions observed in Neanderthal tooth enamel was much smaller (∼3‰), possibly the result of a longer enamel maturation time averaging out variability. An archaeological otolith from a Preceramic site in Northern Peru exhibited marked changes in δ¹⁸O over life, due either to the fish occasionally migrating from the sea to a lower salinity habitat, or to short-lived rises in sea water temperature. A fish otolith from Australia's Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area showed clear seasonal variations, but also a general trend towards isotopically heavier and more saline water, as indicated by higher δ¹⁸O and Sr/Ca values resulting from increased evaporation. The results of these case studies are compared to results of oxygen isotope analysis using more conventional methods and demonstrate the ability of the SHRIMP II to provide precise high spatial resolution in-situ oxygen isotope analyses of a variety of biogenic materials. This approach has major advantages over conventional methods. It can provide rapid, micro-scale isotopic analyses of sub-permil precision without the need for chemical preparation of the sample.     

Influence of seabird guano and camelid dung fertilization on the nitrogen isotopic composition of field-grown maize (Zea mays)

Organic fertilizers have the capacity to alter the nitrogen isotopic composition of plants. Camelid dung and seabird guano are two potentially important fertilizers in the agricultural systems of western South America, particularly Peru and Chile. This paper presents isotopic data (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) from field grown plants (maize, Zea mays) fertilized with the following four treatments: CO (control, no fertilizer applied), AS (ammonium sulfate, a chemical fertilizer), DU (camelid dung), and SG (seabird guano). Plants were grown in experimental plots in the Virú Valley, northern Peru. Plants fertilized with the chemical fertilizer presented very similar isotopic compositions compared to the control. Conversely, the camelid dung fertilized plants were characterized by higher δ¹⁵N values compared to the control plants (by 1.8 to 4.2‰ depending on the plant part). The seabird guano fertilized plants were greatly enriched in ¹⁵N in comparison to the control plants (by 11.3 to 20.0‰). The results of this study have important implications for the reconstruction of human diet using isotopic data derived from bone collagen and related tissues, particularly in the prehispanic Andes, but also in Europe and North America during the 19th century, when Peruvian seabird guano was used extensively. Specifically, the interpretation of the relative contributions of plant and animal protein to the diet on the basis of bulk isotopic compositions of bone collagen (or similar tissues) may be confounded by camelid dung fertilization if the carbon isotopic compositions of the two sources are similar. Likewise, the interpretation of the relative contributions of maize and marine protein may be confounded by seabird guano fertilization.     

Book reviews

THE PHILIPPINES

FILOMENO AGUILAR. Clash of Spirits—the History of Power and Sugar Planter Hegemony on a Visayan Island. Ateneo de Manila University Press and University of Hawaii Press, 1998.

CHINA

BENJAMIN VANG. Deng: a Political Biography. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997. 360 pp. Bibliography, index. US$59.95, hardcover; US$21.95, paper.

CHING KWAN LEE. Gender and the South China Miracle. Two Worlds of Factory Women. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1998. xiii, 210 pp. Bibliography, index. £12.95, paper.

LINDA BENSON and INGVAR SVANBERG. China's Last Nomads: the History and Culture of China's Kazaks . New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1998. 270 pp. Index, photographs, maps, charts, bibliography. US$63.95, hardcover; US$ 24.95, paper.

JAPAN, KOREA

TESSA MORRIS‐SUZUKI. Re‐inventing Japan: time, Space, Nation. New York and London: M. E. Sharpe, 1998. US$21.95, paper.

DAVID MYERS and KOTAKU ISHIDO (eds). Japan at the Crossroads. Tokyo: Seibundo, 1998. xv, 253 pp. Bibliography. ¥3000, paper.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

LINDA CONNOR, PATSY ASCH and TIMOTHY ASCH.

Films: A Balinese Trance Séance (30 mins). Jero on Jero (16 mins). The Medium is the Masseuse (31 mins). Jero Tapakan (26 mins). Produced and distributed by the Ethnographic Film Unit, Department of Anthropology, RSPAS, ANU, Canberra. 16mm (VHS cassette). Colour. English subtitles. A$80.00.

CARL A. TROCKI (ed). Gangsters, Democracy, and the State in Southeast Asia. Ithaca: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications, 1998. 94 pp. No price given, paper.