High resolution incremental isotopic analysis of the dentine from early forming teeth, especially first molars (M1s), provides a means to assess the effects of poor childhood nutrition and healthcare on individuals in an assemblage where there are no infants to study. This approach is applied to an 18th and 19th century cemetery population associated with St Saviour's Almshouse burial ground in Southwark, London, to assess whether, or how, early dietary history, including weaning age, influenced health and nutritional status. The results show a general pattern in which non-breast milk foods were introduced before or by 6 months of age, as indicated by elevated δ(15) N during this period. Almost all individuals for which we also have second molar (M2) records, showed lower δ(15) N values from a very young age (>1 year) until approximately 8-10 years, compared to adult values. The overall results show a significant difference in δ(1) (3) C (p = 0 to 4sf, F = 17.327) and a weaker statistical difference in δ(15) N between males and females (p = 0.019, F = 5.581). One possible cause of this is a difference in the diet of males and females early in life, or alternatively, a greater susceptibility of males to nutritional deprivation compared to females. The latter argument is strengthened by a significant difference in the incidence of enamel hypoplasia between the males and females, with 7.7% of male teeth showing defects, compared to 3.9% of females.

Recent research has identified the existence of a freshwater reservoir effect influencing the radiocarbon dating of human skeletal remains from the Dnieper region of Ukraine (Lillie et al. 2009). The current study outlines the evidence for freshwater resource exploitation throughout the period ~10,200–3700 cal BC, and presents the available evidence for the existence of dietary offsets in the 14C dates obtained. We have obtained human skeletal material from 54 Epipaleolithic to Mesolithic period individuals and 267 Neolithic to Eneolithic individuals, from 13 cemeteries, since our research in Ukraine began in 1992. Here, we present the initial results of stable isotope analysis of Eneolithic individuals from the Igren VIII cemetery alongside the Epipaleolithic to Eneolithic samples that have previously been analyzed. When contrasted against the evidence from the prehistoric fauna and fish remains studied, and modern fish species from the Dnieper region, we continue to see variability in diets at the population level, both internally and across cemeteries. We also observed temporal variability in human diets across these chronological periods. The fish samples (both archaeological and modern) show a wide range of isotope ratios for both δ13C and δ15N, which could prove significant when interpreting the dietary sources being exploited. This information directly informs the 14C dating program as an inherent degree of complexity is introduced into the dating of individuals whose diets combine freshwater and terrestrial sources in differing quantities and at differing temporal and/or spatial scales (e.g. Bronk Ramsey et al. 2014).

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