The death of the right‐to‐die campaigners (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

The ‘right‐to‐die’ or assisted suicide debate in the UK has recently been dominated by high‐profile litigation which has brought to public attention stories of individual suffering. The most recent case is that of Tony Nicklinson who, as a result of his permanent and total paralysis which he said made his life ‘intolerable’, wanted the courts to allow a doctor to end his life. Only six days after a Judicial Review refused his request, Tony died of ‘natural’ causes. This article compares the presentation by the media of Tony's requested death with his actual death and discusses what this reveals more generally about the way in which the right‐to‐die debate is presented to the public. It argues that in a politicised debate in which the personal stories of the disabled‐dying are given airtime because of their didactic or symbolic potential, actual death becomes less important than the rights‐rhetoric surrounding death.     

Stable isotopic analysis of human and faunal remains from the Incipient Chulmun (Neolithic) shell midden site of Ando Island,Korea

We analyzed stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of human and animal remains from the Ando shell midden, South Korea. The Ando site is a rare Incipient Chulmun (Neolithic) site (ca. 6000–5000 BC), which contains well-preserved human and animal bones in shell mounds. The stable isotope results for humans (average δ¹³C = −13.5 ± 0.5‰ and δ¹⁵N = 15.2 ± 0.5‰) indicate that Ando people in the Incipient Chulmun period strongly depended on marine resources. There were no isotopic differences between humans of different sex and age at this site. We compared our data with other previous published isotopic data from the Chulmun sites and found that the Ando people had similar isotope values to the southern Chulmun people (Tongsamdong and Daepo), but different isotopic ratios than the western Chulmun people (Daejukri and Konamri). These results indicate that marine foods were the main food resources in the southern coastal regions, but not in the western coastal regions in Chulmun Korea.     

Strontium isotope ratios in fossil teeth from South Africa: assessing laser ablation MC-ICP-MS analysis and the extent of diagenesis

This study tests the precision and accuracy of laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) for measuring strontium isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) in fossil teeth from Swartkrans and Sterkfontein in South Africa, and explores the extent of diagenesis in these specimens. Compared to solution MC-ICP-MS or thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) methods, LA-MC-ICP-MS can be faster and less expensive, but has lower precision and accuracy. We found that ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in fossil rodent teeth measured by LA-MC-ICP-MS were offset from solution values by a mean of 0.0005 ± 0.0010 (2σ). Because of the very wide spread of biologically available ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (∼0.710 to ∼0.790) in the region, LA-MC-ICP-MS is more than sufficient for assessing the geographic origins of the fossil rodents. The concentration of strontium in modern and fossil enamel from the area is statistically indistinguishable, as is the range of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in modern rodents and fossil rodents from Swartkrans. Thus, there is little evidence of diagenetic Sr in the fossil enamel. In contrast, the fossil dentine may contain up to ∼50% diagenetic strontium, although many dentine ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are still far removed from the background cave value of 0.729. We propose that LA-MC-ICP-MS will also be of use for investigating the geographic origins of other, non-rodent fossil teeth from the Sterkfontein and Swartkrans collections, and may prove of similar utility at other suitable sites.     

'Ruling Theories Linger': Questioning the Identity of the Beaufort Inlet Shipwreck

From 1996 investigators of the Beaufort Inlet shipwreck, off North Carolina, USA, have suggested that the remains are those of the Queen Anne's Revenge , flagship of the pirate Blackbeard. Analysis of the published material, however, indicates that no concrete evidence has yet been found to support this identification and, moreover, shows a strong tendency towards Ruling Theory, whereby researchers seem to shape evidence to fit a pre-conceived identification. This article uses the Beaufort Inlet shipwreck as a case study in the dangers of Ruling Theory and how it can compromise scholarly objectivity, and thwart the generation of useful research questions. It also seeks to demonstrate the benefits of a clear, objective research design for project investigation and management.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Reconstructing faunal migrations using intra-tooth sampling and strontium and oxygen isotope analyses: a case study of modern caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti)

Isotopic analyses of incrementally developed dental tissues can be used to reveal patterns of movement and diet in animals. However, the suitability of these methods for the reconstruction of herd movements has not yet been demonstrated. Inter-individual behavioural and isotopic variability at the herd scale, and the implications for archaeological and palaeocological applications, can only be demonstrated through the testing of modern animals. In this pilot study, dual-element isotopic profiles were created from incrementally developed dental tissues of five individuals selected from a modern herd of migratory Alaskan caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). Enamel from second and third molars from the individuals was sequentially sampled in order to reconstruct time-series isotopic profiles. Variation in the strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O_CARB) isotope ratios of sequentially sampled enamel were compared to documented herd movement patterns and local geological and environmental conditions. Four individuals displayed the same general trends, although absolute isotopic values varied. One individual displays a very different trend and may represent a behavioural outlier or an immigrant from a semi-domesticated reindeer herd. The implications of this study to herd movement reconstruction in the past are discussed.     

Extraction and sequencing of human and Neanderthal mature enamel proteins using MALDI-TOF/TOF MS

We report here the first results of a method to extract and sequence mature enamel proteins from modern human and Neanderthal tooth enamel. Using MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry and a combination of direct sequencing and peptide mass mapping we have sequenced a peptide from the tyrosine-rich amelogenin peptide (TRAP) of the X isoform of the amelogenin protein for modern and recent human samples. We also report our results from two Neanderthal enamel samples where we were also able to recover fragments of the TRAP protein, which had a similar sequence to the modern human samples.     

Response to Nowell and Horstwood (2009)

Here we respond to the comment by Nowell and Horstwood (2009) written in response to our 2008 paper where we presented the first results of the application of laser ablation strontium isotope analysis to a fossil hominin. Although we are pleased that the paper has attracted so much interest, including from researchers outside the field such as Nowell and Horstwood, we completely disagree with the two main arguments of their comment. Namely, we reject the notion that they can recalibrate our data using different methods and (non matrix-matched) standards determined in a different laboratory, and that is simply irresponsible to advocate the further development of this method for rare and important hominin samples through drilling rather than the almost non-destructive method of laser ablation that we presented in our paper.