This paper presents the results of an isotopic investigation of population and dietary diversity in Roman Gloucester, focusing on individuals found in a late 2nd century AD mass burial pit at London Road, and comparing them to those found in the nearby cemetery. There were no statistical differences in isotopic composition between mass grave and cemetery burials, suggesting, in agreement with the osteological evidence, that the mass burial was the result of a catastrophic event, probably an epidemic disease. Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis demonstrated considerable diversity in the origins of the Gloucester population, with evidence for both UK and non-UK individuals. Diet was predominately terrestrial and similar to that of other Romano-British populations. Elevated 13 C dentine ratios in some individuals are correlated with raised 18 O p values and are therefore probably due to childhoods spent in warmer climates, rather than dietary variation. Given the geological complexity of the Gloucester area, this study also provides new biosphere 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data for the wider region. A technical appendix gives details on the analytical methods employed by the NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory (NIGL) in the measurement of oxygen stable isotope ratios of biogenic phosphate ( 18 O p ) and evaluates different phosphate oxygen-meteoric water conversion equations using data from Britain.

This is the first comprehensive study of the relationship between the ionic forms of oxygen (phosphate oxygen and structural carbonate) in archaeological human dental enamel. The new equation will allow direct comparison of data produced by the different methods and allow drinking water values to be calculated from structural carbonate data with confidence.

This paper presents a compilation of strontium and oxygen isotope data from human tooth enamel that has been produced at NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory over the last c.15years. These many and often small studies are here combined to provide an overview of data from Britain. The strontium isotope composition ranges between 0.7078 and 0.7165 (excluding individuals deemed to be of non-British origin). The median Sr concentration is 84 ppm but there is a vector of increasing Sr concentrations related to seawater strontium isotope composition that is seen in individuals predominantly from the west coast of Scotland attributed to the used of kelp as a fertilizer. The oxygen isotope data is normally distributed with a mean value of 17.7‰ ± 1.4‰ (2SD n=615). Two sub-populations of local individuals have been identified that provide control groups for human enamel values from the eastern side of Britain where there are lower rainfall levels: 17.2‰ ± 1.26‰, (2SD, n=83) and western area of Britain where rainfall levels are higher = 18.2‰ ± 0.98‰, (2SD, n=41).These data make it possible to make direct comparisons of population means between burial populations and the control dataset to assess commonality of origin.

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