A strontium isotope baseline of Cyprus. Assessing the use of soil leachates, plants, groundwater and surface water as proxies for the local range of bioavailable strontium isotope composition

Ladegaard-Pedersen, Pernille; Achilleos, Maria; Dörflinger, Gerald; Frei, Robert; Kristiansen, Kristian; Frei, Karin Margarita

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134714

Cited by 41 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…At present, it is unclear how bedrock 87 Sr/ 86 Sr variability is integrated into the human dietary catchment in the Andes. Generally, bedrock has broader 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ranges than the catchment-averaged bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr from biological substrates (Bataille et al, 2020), and of those substrates, omnivorous skeletons show broader ranges than soils, herbivorous fauna, and plants (Valentine et al, 2008;Ladegaard-Pedersen et al, 2020). However, in geologically active areas in the highlands like those around Cusco, Knudson et al (2014) found wider 87 Sr/ 86 Sr variability in soils than in published bedrock.…”

Section: Strontium Isotopes In the Andes: From Dietary Catchments To mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potential of using water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr for archeological skeleton provenience has varied according to study location and approach. Many baseline studies including water do not directly compare water and archeological human 87 Sr/ 86 Sr (Hodell et al, 2004;Bentley and Knipper, 2005;Frei, 2011, 2013;Lengfelder et al, 2019;Ladegaard-Pedersen et al, 2020;Pacheco-Forés et al, 2020), although some incorporate water into a mixed or predictive model and evaluate archeological data points against that model (e.g., Montgomery et al, 2007;Snoeck et al, 2020). Among studies in mountainous regions comparing skeletal 87 Sr/ 86 Sr directly to local water measurements, a relationship is reported between water elevation, sample variability, and fit of archeological samples to local water.…”

Section: Assessing Water As a Proxy For Local Skeletal 87 Sr/ 86 Srmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drinking Locally: A Water 87Sr/86Sr Isoscape for Geolocation of Archeological Samples in the Peruvian Andes

et al. 2020

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The analysis of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr has become a robust tool for identifying non-local individuals at archeological sites. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr in human bioapatite reflects the geological signature of food and water consumed during tissue development. Modeling relationships between 87 Sr/ 86 Sr in human environments, food webs, and archeological human tissues is critical for moving from identifying non-locals to determining their likely provenience. In the Andes, obstacles to sample geolocation include overlapping 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of distant geographies and a poor understanding of mixed strontium sources in food and drink. Here, water is investigated as a proxy for bioavailable strontium in archeological human skeletal and dental tissues. This study develops a water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape from 262 samples (220 new and 42 published samples), testing the model with published archeological human skeletal 87 Sr/ 86 Sr trimmed of probable non-locals. Water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and prediction error between the predicted and measured 87 Sr/ 86 Sr for the archeological test set are compared by elevation, underlying geology, and watershed size. Across the Peruvian Andes, water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ranges from 0.7049 to 0.7227 (M = 0.7081, SD = 0.0027). Water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr is higher in the highlands, in areas overlying older bedrock, and in larger watersheds, characteristics which are geographically correlated. Spatial outliers identified are from canals, wells, and one stream, suggesting those sources could show non-representative 87 Sr/ 86 Sr. The best-fit water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape achieves prediction errors for archeological samples ranging from 0.0017-0.0031 (M = 0.0012, n = 493). The water isoscape explains only 7.0% of the variation in archeological skeletal 87 Sr/ 86 Sr (R 2 = 0.07), but 90.0% of archeological skeleton 87 Sr/ 86 Sr fall within the site isoscape prediction ± site prediction standard error. Due to lower sampling density and higher geological variability in the highlands, the water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape is more useful for ruling out geographic origins for lowland

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Section: Strontium Isotopes In the Andes: From Dietary Catchments To mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Assessing Water As a Proxy For Local Skeletal 87 Sr/ 86 Srmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drinking Locally: A Water 87Sr/86Sr Isoscape for Geolocation of Archeological Samples in the Peruvian Andes

et al. 2020

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“…This approach was recently successfully applied in e.g. France [36], in Cyprus [37] and on the Peloponnese, Greece [38]. Our sampling sites, which covers the major lithologies of Scania, were chosen to allow for 1) the baselines to be used as relevant reference for their application in provenance studies of prehistoric individuals excavated from archaeological sites within Scania; 2) the exploration of PLOS ONE potential sub-regional variations of bioavailable strontium isotope ranges in Scania; 3) the distinction of regional inter-relationships between the different environmental proxy archives.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Topsoil samples were taken from 10-15 cm below soil surface, or 10-15 cm below the mor layer, where such was present. Leaves were sampled from bushes, as previously shown suitable for baseline investigation by [57], and collected for Sr baselines in comparative multi-proxy studies in Cyprus [37] and the Peloponnese, Greece [38]. Bushes with a total height of 2-4 m were preferred and the leaf sampling height was preferably chosen to be approximately 1.5 m above ground.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Testing Late Bronze Age mobility in southern Sweden in the light of a new multi-proxy strontium isotope baseline of Scania

et al. 2021

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The Bronze Age of Sweden’s southernmost region, Scania, is complex and intriguing. One could say that Scania represented in many ways a gateway for people, ideas and material culture connecting continental Europe with Sweden. Shedding light on the dynamics of human mobility in this region requires an in depth understanding of the local archaeological contexts across time. In this study, we present new archaeological human data from the Late Bronze Age Simris II site, located in an area of Scania showing a dynamic environment throughout the Late Bronze Age, thus likely involving various forms of mobility. Because the characterization of solid strontium isotope baselines is vital for delineating human mobility in prehistory using the strontium isotope methodology, we introduce the first environmentally based multi-proxy (surface water-, plant- and soil leachates) strontium isotope baselines for sub-regions of Scania. Our results show, that the highly complex and spatially scattered lithologies characterising Scania does not allow for a spatially meaningful, geology-based grouping of multi-proxy data that could be beneficial for provenance studies. Instead, we propose sub-regional baselines for areas that don’t necessarily fully correspond and reflect the immediate distribution of bedrock lithologies. Rather than working with a Scania-wide multi-proxy baseline, which we define as 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7133 ± 0.0059 (n = 102, 2σ), we propose sub-regional, multi-proxy baselines as follows: Area 1, farthest to the north, by 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7184 ± 0.0061 (n = 16, 2σ); Area 2, comprising the mid and western part of Scania, with 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7140 ± 0.0043 (n = 48, 2σ); Area 3–4, roughly corresponding to a NW-SE trending zone dominated by horst-graben tectonics across Scania, plus the carbonate dominated south western part of Scania with 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7110 ± 0.0030 (n = 39, 2σ). Our results also reflect that the complexity of the geology of Scania requires systematic, high density, statistically sound sampling of multiple proxies to adequately constrain the baseline ranges, particularly of those areas dominated by Precambrian lithologies. The averaging effect of biosphere Sr in surface water might be beneficial for the characterization of baselines in such terranes. Our sub-regional, area-specific baselines allow for a first comparison of different baseline construction strategies (single-proxy versus multi-proxy; Scania-wide versus sub-regional). From the Late Bronze Age Simris II site, we identified six individuals that could be analysed for Sr isotopes, to allow for an interpretation of their provenance using the newly established, environmental strontium isotope baselines. All but one signature agrees with the local baselines, including the 87Sr/86Sr value we measured for a young individual buried in a house urn, typically interpreted as evidence for long distance contacts. The results are somewhat unexpected and provides new aspects into the complexity of Scandinavian Bronze Age societies.

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“…Of these, three were soils, three were waters and four were plant samples (see location of the sampling sites in Figure 1). The environmental samples were treated and analysed as described in Ladegaard-Pedersen et al (2020).…”

Section: Strontium Isotope Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

visiting the Roman Iron Age Hoby chieftain burial after 100 years of its discovery - adding the strontium isotopic perspective

Frei

Klingenberg

2021

DJA

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In 1920 on the island of Lolland, in southern Denmark the remains of one of northern Europe’s richest graves came to light, the Hoby chieftain burial. It revealed a large number of luxurious Roman goods, including two silver drinking cups decorated with Greek-inspired scenes from Homer’s Iliad. The burial dates to the beginning of the Roman Iron Age (1CE -200CE), and represents a key point in time when the Roman Empire failed to expand towards the north and changed its strategy towards a more political and diplomatic type of relationship with northern Europe. Hence, the Hoby burial is considered to be a key example of this type of relationship. We revisited the burial and present the first strontium isotope analyses of the human remains of the Hoby individual from three of his teeth and 10 additional environmental samples to shed light on his provenance. We discussed these results in light of the new insights provided by recent excavations of a contemporary nearby settlement. Our results indicate that the Hoby individual was most probably of local origin, corroborating previous interpretations. Furthermore, the associated settlement seems to confirm the central role of Hoby in the Early Roman Iron Age society.

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A strontium isotope baseline of Cyprus. Assessing the use of soil leachates, plants, groundwater and surface water as proxies for the local range of bioavailable strontium isotope composition

Cited by 41 publications

References 62 publications

Drinking Locally: A Water 87Sr/86Sr Isoscape for Geolocation of Archeological Samples in the Peruvian Andes

Drinking Locally: A Water 87Sr/86Sr Isoscape for Geolocation of Archeological Samples in the Peruvian Andes

Testing Late Bronze Age mobility in southern Sweden in the light of a new multi-proxy strontium isotope baseline of Scania

visiting the Roman Iron Age Hoby chieftain burial after 100 years of its discovery - adding the strontium isotopic perspective

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