Stable Isotope Analysis

This volume covers the Prehistory of Ukraine from the Lower Palaeolithic through to the end of the Neolithic periods. This is the first comprehensive synthesis of Ukrainian Prehistory from earliest times through until the Neolithic Period undertaken by researchers who are currently investigating the Prehistory of Ukraine. At present there are no other English language books on this subject that provide a current synthesis for these periods. The chapters in this volume provide up-to-date overviews of all aspects of prehistoric culture development in Ukraine and present details of the key sites and finds for the periods studied. The book includes the most recent research from all areas of prehistory up to the Neolithic period, and, in addition, areas such as recent radiocarbon dating and its implications for culture chronology are considered; as is a consideration of aDNA and the new insights into culture history this area of research affords; alongside recent macrofossil studies of plant use, and anthropological and stable isotope studies of diet, which all combine to allow greater insights into the nature of human subsistence and cultural developments across the Palaeolithic to Neolithic periods in Ukraine. It is anticipated that this book will be an invaluable resource for students of prehistory throughout Europe in providing an English-language text that is written by researchers who are active in their respective fields and who possess an intimate knowledge of Ukrainian prehistory.

Malcolm C. Lillie (PhD 1998, University of Sheffield) is Professor of Archaeology at Umeå University, Sweden. Previously he was Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology and Wetland Science at the University of Hull, England. Malcolm undertook MSc and PhD research at Sheffield University, the latter under the supervision of the late Professor Marek Zvelebil. His main research interests are the Prehistory of Ukraine, in situ preservation in wetlands, prehistoric and wetlands archaeology in general and the analysis of prehistoric human remains.

Inna Potekhina (PhD 1992, Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev) is Head of the Bioarchaeology Department in the Institute of Archeology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev and an Associate Professor at the University of 'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy', where she teaches a course of anthropology and bioarchaeology. Inna is an author of more than 150 articles and four monographs on the anthropology of the prehistoric populations of Ukraine and Eastern Europe, the genomic history of Mesolithic-Eneolithic Ukraine and palaeodemography and palaeodiet reconstructions.

Chelsea Budd (PhD 2016, University of Oxford) is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Archaeology at the University of Umeå, Sweden. Her main research interests are Early European Prehistory, isotope geochemistry and the application of statistical modelling techniques to archaeological research.

Historical, artefactual and place-name evidence indicates that Scandinavian migrants moved to eastern England in the ninth century AD, settling in the Danelaw. However, only a handful of characteristically Scandinavian burials have been found in the region. One, widely held, explanation is that most of these Scandinavian settlers quickly adopted local Christian burial customs, thus leaving Scandinavians indistinguishable from the Anglo-Saxon population. We undertook osteological and isotopic analysis to investigate the presence of first-generation Scandinavian migrants. Burials from Masham were typical of the later Anglo-Saxon period and included men, women and children. The location and positioning of the four adult burials from Coppergate, however, are unusual for Anglo-Scandinavian York. None of the skeletons revealed interpersonal violence. Isotopic evidence did not suggest a marine component in the diet of either group, but revealed migration on a regional, and possibly an international, scale. Combined strontium and oxygen isotope analysis should be used to investigate further both regional and Scandinavian migration in the later Anglo-Saxon period.

Variation in δ13C and δ15N values can be assessed to understand not only diet, but also the influence of physiological factors on an individual. The metabolic balance of an individual can impact isotopic signals in tissues that are forming during the periods of metabolic stress. Fluctuating δ15N values are associated with physiological stressors that alter an individual's metabolism such as infection, injury, or pregnancy. This study examines variation in δ13C and δ15N values along sequentially segmented hair in both modern and archaeological individuals. Subjects with an observable skeletal pathology, known chronic illness, or evidence of pregnancy were compared with controls exhibiting no evidence of physiological stress. The results on hair samples from individuals from 19th century Belleville, Ontario, four modern cadavers (two with cancer and two sudden deaths), and two living pregnant women indicate that δ15N values are approximately 1‰ higher in individuals with a pathological condition (e.g., infection, fracture, or cancer) and are 1‰ lower during pregnancy, whereas δ13C values show less variability. Higher nitrogen values may represent the recycling of nitrogen derived from the breakdown of existing proteins in the body (catabolism), whereas lower δ15N values are related to increased utilization of dietary and urea nitrogen for tissue synthesis during pregnancy. These findings suggest that short-term fluctuations of δ15N values may be the result of changes in an individual's metabolic balance, and that metabolic imbalance poses a confounding factor to ancient dietary studies when using rapidly growing tissues such as hair.

I am a guest editor (along with Alan McMillan) of an upcoming special Issue of the journal 'BC Studies' which will feature nine papers about the archaeology of the outer Coast of British Columbia. This special issue will be published in Early November and available in print and online at:
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/issue/archive

This article presents the results of the analyses of fish remains from Dąbki, site 9, situated on the western part of the Polish Baltic coastline. Most samples were excavated from an inshore refuse layer in the peat bog, while some other samples come from a Stone Age settlement located at the shore of the former lake (silted up and overgrown). A total of 18 ichthyological taxa were identified (15 freshwater and 3 migratory). The study showed that, despite the site’s relatively close proximity to the seashore, the fishing economy had a local character and was probably concentrated on the fresh and brackish waters of the nearest lakes and rivers.

An abrupt cold event ca. 8200 cal. yr BP, is believed to have been caused by the catastrophic release of ice-dammed melt-water from Lake Agassiz and associated disruption of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning
Circulation (AMOC). Previous reviews have highlighted both the“ideal”nature of the 8200 yr event as a target
for numerical model validation and the likely geographical restriction of the ensuing cold event to the circum-North Atlantic region but have cited a lack of sufficiently resolved palaeoclimatic records to test this
hypothesis. We review the current set of high-resolution stable isotope records from multiple archives (lake,
bog, marine and ice cores) in the North Atlantic region for the period 9200–7400 yr BP (present =AD 1950).
The isotopic values of terrestrial records are closely linked to isotopic values of palaeoprecipitation. All sites
provided evidence for at least one centennial-scale anomaly (beginning ~8500–8250 yr BP) that exceeded
background variability. No evidence for spatial or temporal transgression of the isotope anomalies was
identified, implying that a simultaneous climate signal was observed in the circum-North Atlantic region.
Comparison with new simulations using the UK Hadley Centre model HadCM3, which was isotope-enabled to
simulate changes in the stable isotope composition of precipitation and forced by freshwater input (“hosing”)
of 5 Sverdrups (Sv) (0.005 km
3
/s), for 1 yr, indicated agreement with the observed decrease in the amplitude
of the isotope anomaly with distance from the NW North Atlantic. The model-simulated duration of the event,
however, was consistently shorter than that observed in palaeoclimatic records. A review of evidence for
forcing additional to the catastrophic release of meltwater from Lake Agassiz (solar variability, sea-ice
feedback and longer-term meltwater history) suggested that reduced solar output did not directly coincide
with the 8200 yr event, but that a more complex history of meltwater discharges and sea-ice feedback may
have conditioned the AMOC for sustained climatic impact.

Recent studies have shown that the use of aquatic resources has greater antiquity in hominin diets than previously thought. At present, it is unclear when hominins started to habitually consume marine resources. This study examines shellfish exploitation from a behavioural ecology perspective, addressing how and when past hunter-gatherers from the Levant used coastal resources for subsistence purposes. We investigate the seasonality of shellfish exploitation in the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic through oxygen isotope analysis on shells of the intertidal rocky shore mollusc Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus from the key site Ksâr 'Akil (Lebanon). At this rockshelter, multi-layered archaeological deposits contained remains of both marine and terrestrial molluscs in relatively large quantities, which were consumed and used as tools and ornaments by the occupants of the site. Our results indicate that at the start of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP), there is no evidence for shellfish consumption. Humans started to take fresh shellfish to the rockshelter from the second half of the IUP onward, albeit in low quantities. During the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) shellfish exploitation became increasingly frequent. Oxygen isotope data show that shellfish exploitation was practised in every season throughout most of the Upper Palaeolithic (UP), with an emphasis on the colder months. This suggests that coastal resources had a central role in early UP foraging strategies, rather than a seasonally restricted supplementary one. Year-round shellfish gathering, in turn, suggests that humans occupied the rockshelter at different times of the year, although not necessarily continuously. Our oxygen isotope data is complemented with broader-scale exploitation patterns of faunal resources, both vertebrate and invertebrate, at the site. The inclusion of coastal marine resources signifies a diversification of the human diet from the EUP onward, which is also observed in foraging practices linked to the exploitation of terrestrial fauna.

The harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus), today a subarctic species with breeding populations in the White Sea, around the Jan Mayen Islands and Newfoundland, was a common pinniped species in the Baltic Sea during the mid-and late Holocene. It is puzzling how an ice dependent species could breed in the Baltic Sea during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM), and it remains unclear for how long harp seals bred in the Baltic Sea and when the population became extirpated. We combined radiocarbon dating of harp seal bones with zooarchaeological, palaeoenvironmental and stable isotope data to reconstruct the harp seal occurrence in the Baltic Sea. Our study revealed two phases of harp seal presence and verifies that the first colonization and establishment of a local breeding population occurred within the HTM. We suggest that periods with very warm summers but cold winters allowed harp seals to breed on the ice. Human pressure, salinity fluctuations with consequent changes in prey availability and competition for food resources, mainly cod, resulted in physiological stress that ultimately led to a population decline and local extirpation during the first phase. The population reappeared after a long hiatus. Final extinction of the Baltic Sea harp seal coincided with the Medieval Warm Period. Our data provide insights for the first time on the combined effects of past climatic and environmental change and human pressure on seal populations and can contribute with new knowledge on ongoing discussions concerning the impacts of such effects on current arctic seal populations.

Objectives: This study aims to assess if inter-island mobility can be identified during the Namu period (ca. 1,510-1800 AD) using 87Sr/86Sr analysis of dental enamel for individuals from the Namu burial ground on Taumako Island in the eastern Solomon Island Chain. Historic evidence from this region suggests that females migrated between the Duff, Reef, and Santa Cruz islands for marriage purposes. We hypothesize that observable trends in migrational (87Sr/86Sr ) and dietary (δ13C and δ15N) isotopes can reveal the relationship between demographic factors, social status, diet, and female mobility on Taumako. Methods: This research analyzes enamel 87Sr/86Sr  for 58 individuals in the Namu skeletal sample. The 87Sr/86Sr results were compared with published dietary isotope data (bone collagen and dentin δ13C and δ15N values) and type/number of grave goods to assess whether trends within the data may be related to sex, age, or burial wealth. Results: The results show that females display significantly higher 87Sr/86Sr  values compared to males. One young adult female displayed a 87Sr/86Sr  value that was +2SD outside the mean for the sampled individuals. A linear mixed-effects model and principle components analysis of 87Sr/86Sr, δ13C, and δ15N values suggest that wealth, sex, and age-cohort membership have an observable influence on the isotopic variation for the Taumako population. Conclusion: We suggest that during the Namu period, Taumako was patrilocal and that some females migrated there from the nearby Santa Cruz and Reef islands. One female immigrated to Taumako from a geologically distinct region outside of the Duff, Reef, and Santa Cruz Island groups.

KEYWORDS: bioarchaeology, biogeochemistry, isotope analysis, migration, Polynesian Outlier, Solomon Islands

2013. With Jessica Pearson. In the Journal of Archaeological Theory and Method, 20/3: 1-22.
For 20 years, archaeological approaches to the body have tended to focus upon
evidence confined to specific areas of expertise. Such scholarly separations are understandable
due to archaeological specialisations in osteology or figurines, burial practices or
stable isotope ratios. Here, we provide a multi-stranded data analysis of the archaeological
body at Çatalhöyük using data from stable isotope analysis, physical anthropology, figural
representation and the burial assemblage. Using these diverse datasets dialectically, we
suggest that our analysis offers more rigorous perspectives on ancient bodies and embodiment
and that our interpretations are reinforced by the variation and scale of evidence
employed. Recent research at Çatalhöyük underscores a general lack of gender differentiation
in health, lifestyle and diet but does provide evidence for age differentiation. For
example, the isotope data reveal that younger adults consumed different foods than older
adults. This pattern accords well with a particular attention to age in the burial assemblage;
older individuals accrued the most diverse and biographical burial assemblages. New
studies of anthropomorphic figurines from the site reveal an emphasis on depicting fleshy,
aging, non-gendered bodies that might signify a concern with old age and survival that
serves to challenge older notions of a Mother Goddess cult. We suggest that the
Çatalhöyük inhabitants attached a specific significance to flesh in their material world,
which they used to signify age and maturity, and that this challenges older notions about
matriarchy, gender hierarchies and the privileging of female fertility.