Oxygen isotope analyses of skeletal remains (18 O/ 16 O, δ 18 O) are a powerful tool for exploring major themes in bioarchaeology (the study of biological archaeological remains) and can aid in the reconstruction of past human-environment interactions, socio-cultural decisions and individual life histories. Making use of the preserved animal and human tooth and bone commonly found at archaeological sites, applications include the reconstruction of palaeoclimate and palaeoseasonality; animal husbandry and management practices; human and animal lifetime mobility and provenance; and cultural practices such as breastfeeding, weaning and even past culinary preparation techniques. With a range of other uses across the natural, physical, chemical and biological sciences, oxygen isotope analyses are also highly cross-disciplinary, with developments in the field of isotope bioarchaeology potentially feeding into other fields and vice-versa. The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the biogeochemical background of oxygen isotope systematics from the water cycle to human and animal skeletal tissues for archaeologists and other scientists, and to explore how these have been utilised in terrestrial bioarchaeological research. In this way, we aim to provide an overview resource for stable isotope analysts in archaeology and the wider earth science community, as well as for archaeological practitioners and consumers interested in specific applications. By providing a summary of fundamental isotope mechanics alongside a review of recent developments in the field, we hope to highlight the potential of oxygen isotope bioarchaeology to not only reveal environmental and ecological aspects of the past relevant to human groups using archaeological materials, but also to illuminate past human decisions and behaviours. Current limitations and caveats of the approaches used are also explored.

Diet is a crucial trait of an animal’s lifestyle and ecology. The trophic level of an organism indicates its functional position within an ecosystem and holds significance for its ecology and evolution. Here, we demonstrate the use of zinc isotopes (δ66Zn) to geochemically assess the trophic level in diverse extant and extinct sharks, including the Neogene megatooth shark (Otodus megalodon) and the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). We reveal that dietary δ66Zn signatures are preserved in fossil shark tooth enameloid over deep geologic time and are robust recorders of each species’ trophic level. We observe significant δ66Zn differences among the Otodus and Carcharodon populations implying dietary shifts throughout the Neogene in both genera. Notably, Early Pliocene sympatric C. carcharias and O. megalodon appear to have occupied a similar mean trophic level, a finding that may hold clues to the extinction of the gigantic Neogene megatooth shark.

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The deliquescence behaviour of ternary aerosols composed of ammonium sulfate (AS) and water, internally mixed with malonic acid (MOA), maleic acid (MEA) and glutaric acid (GAA), has been studied using a new surface aerosol microscope setup (SAM) as well as an electrodynamic balance (EDB). In each of the systems studied the addition of the organic acids to ammonium sulfate leads to a decrease of the deliquescence relative humidities (DRH). However, the observed behaviour of the DRH values over a large range of acid concentrations is complex and indicates a eutectic behaviour. Moreover, the ternary AS/MOA/water aerosols show a two step deliquescence process whose magnitude and concentration dependence have been quantitatively investigated for the first time. The results suggest that previous DRH interpretations underestimate the strength and the atmospheric implications of the MOA influence. In addition to the deliquescence behaviour, effloresced ternary aerosols were studied with respect to their morphology and crystal behaviour using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and Raman microscopy (RM), respectively. It is found that in each case crystalline mixtures consisting of the pure AS and pure organic acid are formed. However, the crystalline appearances of the solids formed are different from those of the effloresced pure acids. Moreover, a maximum size of the single crystallites formed during the efflorescence of these complex ternary aerosols has been assigned.