14C dating with the bomb peak: An application to forensic medicine

Wild, Eva Maria; Arlamovsky, K.A; Golser, Robin; Kutschera, W.; Priller, Alfred; Puchegger, S.; Rom, Werner; Steier, Peter; Vycudilik, W.

doi:10.1016/s0168-583x(00)00227-5

Cited by 155 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Therefore, measurement of the ␦ 13 C and ␦ 15 N values of mammal bone collagen can be used to determine the main sources of dietary protein over the lifetime of that mammal. The bone collagen isotope values likely reflect dietary protein consumed over the past 10 -20 years of life for an adult long-lived mammal (58). Although used to assess whether the dietary protein carbon is derived from marine versus terrestrial sources or from C 3 or C4 plants, it is the trophic level of the protein consumed that is of interest here.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic evidence for omnivory among European cave bears: Late Pleistocene Ursus spelaeus from the Peştera cu Oase, Romania

Richards

Pacher

Stiller

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

102

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Previous bone collagen carbon and nitrogen isotopic studies of Late Pleistocene European cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) have shown that these bears frequently had low nitrogen isotope values, similar to those of herbivores and indicating either unusual physiology related to hibernation or a herbivorous diet. Isotopic analysis of animal bone from the Peştera cu Oase (Cave with Bones), Romania, shows that most of its cave bears had higher nitrogen isotope values than the associated herbivores and were, therefore, omnivorous. The Oase bears are securely identified as cave bears by both their morphology and DNA sequences. Although many cave bear populations may have behaved like herbivores, the Oase isotopic data demonstrate that cave bears were capable of altering their diets to become omnivores or even carnivores. These data therefore broaden the dietary profile of U. spelaeus and raise questions about the nature of the carnivore guild in Pleistocene Europe.carbon isotopes ͉ nitrogen isotopes ͉ diets ͉ ancient DNA L ate Pleistocene cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) diet and physiology is not well known, although based on skull, mandible, and tooth morphology, they have been inferred to have been largely herbivorous (1-4). Moreover, isotopic studies of central and western European cave bears have shown that, in most cases where their values are compared with herbivores and carnivores from the same site, they have ␦ 15 N values that plot with, or lower than, herbivores (Table 1). These dietary inferences are in the context of bears that had a period of dormancy, similar to modern black bears (Ursus americanus) and brown bears (Ursus arctos), given the abundance of hibernation nests in European caves. This pattern has been interpreted in several ways.Based Table 1), is that some cave bears were largely herbivorous, as are some modern bears, but that other cave bears were more carnivorous and hence exhibit ␦ 15 N values similar to those of many modern omnivorous U. arctos and U. americanus. In this interpretation, the variation in trophic level indicated by ␦ 15 N values would reflect ecological plasticity among U. spelaeus, in which they were more or less carnivorous depending on available food resources, body-size requirements, interspecific competition, seasonality, and temperature.Regardless of the cause, 86.1% of the available individual European adult cave bear ␦ 15 N values (n ϭ 101) are Ͻ6.0‰, and hence within the basically vegetarian range [the number rises to 95.6%, n ϭ 91 without Hilderbrand et al.'s (14) 10 specimens] (Table 1). In the context of this distribution of ␦ 15 N values, routine isotopic assessment of a cave bear metapodial associated with an early modern human cranium in the Late Pleistocene Peştera cu Oase, Caraş-Severin, southwestern [supporting information (SI) Text and SI Figs. 4 and 5], provided an anomalously high ␦ 15 N value of 7.8‰ (SI Table 2, Oase O34-232). To further evaluate this result and address the cause of the generally low cave bear ␦ 15 N values, we measured the isotope values of c...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic evidence for omnivory among European cave bears: Late Pleistocene Ursus spelaeus from the Peştera cu Oase, Romania

Richards

Pacher

Stiller

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

102

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“…Pigs, with an average life span of 2 to 3 years (the maximal age of most of the Aitutaki specimens), were isotopically the most variable. Humans, in contrast, where the values typically reflect the last two to three decades of life (Wild et al 2000, Ubelaker et al 2006, Hedges et al 2007, were the most uniform. Dogs, which probably had life spans of around 5 to 7 years, were intermediate.…”

Section: Reductions In Diet Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 97%

Dynamics of Polynesian Subsistence: Insights from Archaeofauna and Stable Isotope Studies, Aitutaki, Southern Cook Islands

Allen

Craig

2009

Pacific Science

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Human colonists of Remote Oceania readily took advantage of the naive virgin fauna encountered on previously uninhabited islands, a bounty that was quickly depleted. Subsequent developments in Polynesian subsistence economies were more subtle, varied, and complex. These features are illustrated in a comparison of two quite different subsistence archives from the postcolonization period: archaeofaunal assemblages and stable isotope (d 13 C and d 15 N) records of humans, pigs, and dogs from the same archaeological contexts. The samples come from four stratified sites, with a total of 22 distinct occupational strata that represent a 600-year period on the small (18.4 km 2 ) almost-atoll of Aitutaki in the southern Cook Islands. Benefits and challenges of integrating these quite different records are considered in the context of specific findings, with implications for subsistence studies elsewhere. In particular, differences in formation processes, taxonomic resolution, and contrasting spatial and temporal scales represented by each record are highlighted. A complex, multiscalar picture of subsistence change emerges, showing variability within and across the three species and the two subsistence archives. Findings support prior interpretations that established (not colonial) settlements are represented by the currently known Aitutaki archaeological record. Within the relatively stable and largely anthropogenic food web, humans occupy a central position throughout the sequence. Through time, a reduction in fishing and decreased consumption of marine carnivores is indicated; these changes are likely to be an outcome of both repeated storm events and considerable shoreline disruption in the fourteenth century A.D., and cultural decisions about the relative costs and benefits of various fishing activities vis-à-vis other subsistence needs. An apparent reduction in variability of pig diets in late prehistory could reflect interspecific competition between pigs and their human managers, although small sample sizes constrain interpretations. Overall, use of two quite different subsistence archives provides a more robust, but also more complex, view of subsistence change across individuals and communities on Aitutaki.

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“…However, in some cases such a context is missing or the time window must be estimated more precisely. Bomb 14 C dating is a useful tool for the last 60 yr for it allows pinpointing the time of death (Wild et al 2000;Tuniz et al 2004). It has also been proposed to use 14 C dating of tooth enamel to help estimate the time when the tooth was formed, and therefore the year of the birth (Spalding et al 2005b).…”

Section: Forensicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Radiocarbon Dating Method

Hajdas¹

2009

Radiocarbon

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ABSTRACT. The main force driving technical development of the radiocarbon dating technique is the wide spectrum of applications that cross interdisciplinary boundaries of Earth and social sciences. This paper provides a very brief overview of some of the many applications of 14 C analysis to various studies of human origin and migration, cultures and history, past and present environment, and the human body itself.

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14C dating with the bomb peak: An application to forensic medicine

Cited by 155 publications

References 12 publications

Isotopic evidence for omnivory among European cave bears: Late Pleistocene Ursus spelaeus from the Peştera cu Oase, Romania

Isotopic evidence for omnivory among European cave bears: Late Pleistocene Ursus spelaeus from the Peştera cu Oase, Romania

Dynamics of Polynesian Subsistence: Insights from Archaeofauna and Stable Isotope Studies, Aitutaki, Southern Cook Islands

Applications of Radiocarbon Dating Method

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