Pastoralist Mobility in Bronze Age Landscapes of Northern Kazakhstan: 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O Analyses of Human Dentition from Bestamak and Lisakovsk

ABSTRACT

The role of migration and mobility of people across the steppe has often been cited as key to Bronze Age developments across Eurasia, including the emergence of complex societies in the steppe and the spread of material culture. The central Eurasian steppe (CES) is a focal point for the investigation of the shifting nature of pastoral societies because of the clear transition in archaeological patterning that occurred from the Middle (MBA) to Late Bronze Age (LBA). The spread of LBA (1700–1400?cal BC) Andronovo cultural materials found across wide swaths of the steppe provide indirect evidence for broad scale interactions, but the degree to which people moved across the landscape remains poorly understood. This study takes a first step into documenting human movement during these critical periods through strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotopic analyses of tooth enamel recovered from human individuals buried in the cemeteries of Bestamak (MBA) and Lisakovsk (LBA) in northern Kazakhstan. Strontium isotope results, referenced against the distribution of contemporary bioavailable strontium in the vicinity of both sites, suggest local communities engaged in small-scale mobility with limited ranges. Reduced strontium and oxygen isotopic variation visible in humans from Lisakovsk suggests mobility decreased from the Middle to Late Bronze Age likely indicative of a shift in resource and landscape use over time.     

The Seasonal Mobility of Prehistoric Gazelle Herds in the Azraq Basin,Jordan: Modelling Alternative Strategies Using Stable Isotopes

The hunting of Gazella subgutturosa was a dominant practice for Epipalaeolithic and early Neolithic hunter–gatherers in the east Jordan steppe. The seasonal mobility of this taxon in the Levant is poorly understood, especially for early prehistory when herd movements would have influenced hunter-gatherer use of the steppes. This paper proposes four patterns of seasonal herd mobility for G. subgutturosa centred on Jordan’s Azraq Basin. The four patterns are modelled using oxygen, carbon and strontium stable isotopes. Seasonal environmental signatures of each are understood through carbon and strontium isotopic variation in sixty modern plant specimens collected from twelve selected locations in north Jordan, published data on oxygen isotopes in local precipitation, and the adaptive behaviour of G. subgutturosa. The integrated isotopic datasets provide clear discriminatory markers for each proposed mobility pattern. Results will be applied in future to isotopic data from archaeological gazelle teeth from the Azraq Basin.     

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.     

Application of boron isotopes to the understanding of fluid–rock interactions in a hydrothermally stimulated oil reservoir in the Alberta Basin, Canada

Boron isotope ratios of reservoir minerals and fluids can be a useful geothermometer and monitor of fluid–rock interactions. In Cold Lake oil sands of northern Alberta, there is a large variation in δ¹¹B of the produced waters generated during steam injection and recovery of oil and water. The higher temperature waters (～ 200 °C) have isotopically light δ¹¹B values (+ 3‰ to + 14‰) and high B contents (～150 p.p.m.). It is inferred that the range of δ¹¹B values of the hydrothermal fluids results from reaction with the reservoir rock, and is a function of the temperature of the fluid–rock interaction. The distinct B geochemistry of the produced waters can be used to show that there is no detectable mixing of the oil recovery waters with the regional formation waters or shallow groundwater aquifers containing potable water. Examination of B isotope ratios of reservoir minerals, before and after steam injection, allows the evaluation of sources of B in the reservoir. The only significant phase containing B is pumice. It shows generally positive δ¹¹B values before steam injection and negative values after steam, with δ¹¹B as low as ? 28‰. Other possibly reactive phases include clay minerals and organic matter, but their abundance is not great enough to impact on the isotopic composition of the produced waters. This information makes it possible to evaluate the boron isotope fractionation equation derived from experimental data ( Williams LB (2000) Boron isotope geochemistry during burial diagenesis. PhD Dissertation. The University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Williams LB, Hervig RL, Holloway JR, Hutcheon I (2001a) Boron isotope geochemistry during diagenesis: Part 1. Experimental determination of fractionation during illitization of smectite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in press). The results show that the fractionation curve predicts the difference between δ¹¹B of the pumice and hydrothermal fluids in the Cold Lake reservoir. This not only indicates that the reservoir fluids have approached boron isotope equilibrium with the reservoir rock, but also shows that B isotopes provide a useful geothermometer for hydrothermally stimulated oil reservoirs.     

Lead isotope analysis of intra‐skeletal variation in a 19th century mental asylum cemetery: diagenesis versus migration

Living bone sequesters environmental lead (Pb) from both inhalation and ingestion, providing a record of Pb exposure over a lifetime. Questions about the effects of diagenesis and how to remove them have hampered most isotopic and elemental determinations. As a result, researchers often restrict their analyses to tooth enamel, despite its limitations. We report Pb isotopes in teeth and bones in a frontier population of 15 individuals from a late 19th century mental hospital graveyard in Pueblo, Colorado, a town active at that time in the smelting of ores. Analysis of lead isotopes sequestered in healing bone from rib fractures gives an isotopic fingerprint from the last few months of individual's lives. When bone tissues or teeth from different stages of life are analysed, life history trajectories such as migration routes can be developed which are partially self‐correcting for diagenesis. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stable isotopes in human skeletons of Southern Ontario: reconstructing Palaeodiet

Most native plants of Ontario use the C₃ photosynthetic mechanism and therefore have relatively low ${}^{13}\text{C}{}^{12}\text{C}$ ratios; maize is a C₄ plant and is relatively enriched in ¹³C. The proportion of maize in the diet of a human can therefore be estimated from the ¹³C-content of collagen of fossil bone. We have used this method to follow the increase in consumption of maize in ancient native populations over the interval from AD 400 to 1650, and to quantify the amount of maize consumed. Maize consumption rose gradually to a maximum of 50% of the diet by AD 1400. These data agree with archaeologically derived data for this region, and with previous isotope studies in the northeastern U.S.A. In some of the latter, however, the maximum percentage of maize consumed has been overestimated because maize was assumed to have a δ¹³C value of ?12·5‰; our studies of archaeological specimens show the correct value to be closer to ?9‰. The introduction of beans into the native diet about AD 1100, should have caused a decrease in the ¹⁵N content of human bone collagen because legumes are deficient in this isotope, with respect to meat and fish. However, we observe no significant change in the ${}^{15}\text{N}{}^{14}$N ratio of human bone collagen over the period from 2300 BC to AD 1640. We conclude that meat and fish remained the main sources of protein even after the advent of agriculture into this region.     

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.     

Bone collagen preservation in the tropics: a case study from ancient Puerto Rico

Bone collagen is a well-characterized and generally robust protein that plays a key role in both radiometric dating and stable isotopic reconstruction of paleodiet. To be useful for such purposes, however, analyzed collagen must be relatively taphonomically unaltered. To date, little research has been conducted to document the taphonomic fate of bone collagen from archaeological sites in the tropics. In the present work, a large (n = 298) dataset of archaeological bone samples from sites on the island of Puerto Rico is examined by means of radiometric, chemical, and elemental analyses. The ultimate conclusion of this work is that while collagen loss may be accelerated in the tropics versus that seen in samples from higher latitudes, what collagen remains is typically sufficiently well-preserved and taphonomically unaltered as to make radiocarbon dating and/or stable isotopic analysis worthwhile.     

殷墟1004号王墓出土青铜胄研究

对商晚期都城殷墟遗址的1004号王墓出土的7件青铜胄进行了热电离质谱(TIMS)铅同位素比值分析和电感耦合等离子体发射光谱(ICP-OES)成分分析,数据显示铜胄的合金类型可分为两类——锡青铜和铅锡青铜,且其二者的铅同位素比值均处于高放射性成因铅范围。此研究结果为探索金属矿料的产地来源及此著名王墓的年代等问题提供了重要线索。     

Patterns of social identity in relation to tooth ablation among prehistoric Jomon foragers from the Yoshigo site,Aichi prefecture,Japan

This study documents and interprets patterns of identity in relation to tooth ablation patterns at Yoshigo, a Late/Final Jomon period (3500–2500 yBP) site. Two patterns of tooth ablation are observed among the Yoshigo people: both (2) mandibular canines or four (4) mandibular incisors were extracted during life and formed a basis for identity differentiation. Three hypotheses are tested regarding these groups: (1) tooth ablation groups will be unrelated to postmarital residence; (2) tooth ablation groups will be associated with age‐based achievements; (3) tooth ablation groups will be associated with occupational specialisation. Biodistance, demographic and stable isotope analyses were performed on skeletal remains recovered from Yoshigo (3500–2300 BP) to test these hypotheses. Within‐group variation expressed by cranial and dental measurements was not significantly different between tooth ablation groups. This indicates that tooth ablation practices were not related to migration. Previous biodistance findings do, however, suggest that tooth ablation groups represent closely related individuals, possibly kin‐based networks. Demographic analysis of age‐at‐death and tooth ablation suggests that tooth ablation styles were achieved at different ages. Stable isotope analysis indicates that the tooth ablation groups consumed similar foods. Based on isotopic findings from other sites and archaeological evidence for food sharing among Jomon people, these results suggest that dietary variability between tooth ablation groups was homogenised by cooperative food sharing. The totality of these findings support the hypothesis that the identities associated with tooth ablation were unrelated to migratory patterns, and instead, possibly reflect kin‐based social units, where achievement or age acted as a determinant of membership. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.