Search results for "Isotope analysis"

Anthropogenic lead distribution in soils under arable land and permanent grassland estimated by Pb isotopic compositions

2008

International audience; The role of land use on fate of metals in soils is poorly understood. In this work, we studied the incorporation of lead in two neighboring soils with comparable pedogenesis but under long-term different agricultural management. Distributions of anthropogenic Pb were assessed from concentrations and isotopic compositions determined on bulk horizon samples, systematical 5–10 cm increment samples, and on 24-h EDTA extracts. Minor amounts of anthropogenic lead were detected until 1-m depth under permanent grassland, linked to high earthworm activity. In arable land, exogenous Pb predominantly accumulated at depths <60 cm. Although the proximity between the two sites ens…

A multi-isotope analysis of Neolithic human groups in the Yonne valley, Northern France: insights into dietary patterns and social structure

2019

With the arrival of the Neolithic to Europe, new ways of life and new subsistence strategies emerged. In the Paris Basin (northern France), the appearance of some monumental funerary structures during the Middle Neolithic highlights in particular the increasing complexity of the social organisation. At the same time, several sites, such as open-air cemeteries, do not display any evidence of such arrangement. In the southeast of this area, the two primary routes of neolithisation meet. Several funerary parameters attest to the diverse influence received from other surrounding cultures. In order to assess potential differences in diet, and therefore on purported social distinctions at the int…

Seasonality and Intensity of Shellfish Harvesting on the North Coast of British Columbia

2013

ABSTRACT Biogeochemical and growth increment analyses show contrasting seasonal patterns of butter clam collection and rates of harvest intensity between archaeological shell midden sites from the Dundas Islands archipelago and the mainland coast in Prince Rupert Harbour, northern British Columbia. Growth increment analysis shows more intensive clam harvest in the Dundas Islands in comparison to the residential sites in Prince Rupert Harbour. Stable oxygen isotope analysis shows multi-seasonal collection of clams in the Dundas Islands and a more seasonally specific emphasis in Prince Rupert Harbour. Comparison of these results to those of similar studies in the Namu region on the central co…

Dating Late Paleolithic Harpoons from Lake Lubāns, Latvia

2014

Over 3000 prehistoric bone and antler artifacts, collected in the late 1930s from the former lakebed of Lake Lubāns, are held by the National History Museum of Latvia. This collection is remarkable not only as one of the largest known assemblages of bone implements in northern Europe, but also in terms of diversity of forms. The most elaborately worked objects include harpoons, often with two rows of barbs and spade-shaped bases, which are believed to date to the Late Paleolithic, and to be among the oldest organic artifacts ever found in Latvia. Four broken specimens were sampled in 2011 for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating, stable isotope analysis, and taxonomic attribution by Z…

Copper supply during the Final Neolithic at the Saint-Blaise/Bains des Dames site (Neuchâtel, Switzerland)

2009

The Saint-Blaise/Bains des Dames stratified site in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, contains several occupations that span the Late through Final Neolithic, including the Horgen, Lüscherz, and Auvernier-Cordé periods. As part of a study on prehistoric metallurgy in western Switzerland, we compare the lead isotope ratios (multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer) and elemental compositions (instrumental neutron activation analysis) of the site's numerous copper finds to a database of corresponding measurements for copper ores throughout Europe. The results show a considerable variation in copper compositions present at the site, suggesting complex economic relationships and multip…

The lay of land: Strontium isotope variability in the dietary catchment of the Late Iron Age proto-urban settlement of Basel-Gasfabrik, Switzerland

2018

Abstract Basel-Gasfabrik (Switzerland) comprises an extensive La Tene (chiefly Lt D, 150–80 BCE) settlement and two associated cemeteries at which strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis of human and animal teeth investigated regional and supra-regional contacts. The interpretation of the analytic data, however, requires information on the isotopic baseline values around the site. Using 102 modern vegetation and 9 water samples from 51 localities, this study characterizes the isotopic ratios of the biologically available strontium of geological units and watercourses around Basel and compares these to 28 human infant, 6 pig, and 5 dog teeth from the site. Furthermore, pedological criteria ev…

The stable isotope composition of organic and inorganic fossils in lake sediment records: current understanding, challenges, and future directions

2018

This paper provides an overview of stable isotope analysis (H, C, N, O, Si) of the macro- and microscopic remains from aquatic organisms found in lake sediment records and their application in (palaeo)environmental science. Aquatic organisms, including diatoms, macrophytes, invertebrates, and fish, can produce sufficiently robust remains that preserve well as fossils and can be identified in lake sediment records. Stable isotope analyses of these remains can then provide valuable insights into habitat-specific biogeochemistry, feeding ecology, but also on climatic and hydrological changes in and around lakes. Since these analyses focus on the remains of known and identified organisms, they …

Captación y selección de materias primas en la primera metalurgia del Sureste de la península ibérica

2020

The authors are grateful for the technical and human support provided by SGIker of UPV/EHU and European funding (ERDF and ESF). We are also in debt with Eduardo Galán, Ruth Maicas and Carmen Cacho, curators of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid) for facilitating the sampling and study of metal objects as well as with Ignacio Soriano Llopis for his help on the selection and sampling of the Palmela points, with Massimo Chiaradia who performed the analyses of the Palmela points at the Department of Earth Sciences (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and with Óscar García Vuelta for his pictures of some assemblages. We also appreciate and the careful work of editing and style of the TP edit…

High-resolution sclerochronological analysis of the bivalve mollusk Saxidomus gigantea from Alaska and British Columbia: techniques for revealing env…

2009

Abstract The butter clam, Saxidomus gigantea , is one of the most commonly recovered bivalves from archaeological shell middens on the Pacific Coast of North America. This study presents the results of the sclerochronology of modern specimens of S. gigantea , collected monthly from Pender Island (British Columbia), and additional modern specimens from the Dundas Islands (BC) and Mink and Little Takli Islands (Alaska). The methods presented can be used as a template to interpret local environmental conditions and increase the precision of seasonality estimates in shellfish using sclerochronology and oxygen isotope analysis. This method can also identify, with a high degree of accuracy, the d…

2020