Biologically available Pb: A method for ancient human sourcing using Pb isotopes from prehistoric animal tooth enamel

Samuelsen, John R.; Potra, Adriana

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105079

Cited by 12 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Pb isotope analysis of tooth enamel is becoming an increasingly important method of analysis for constraining geographic origins in humans and animals [1][2][3][4][5][6] as it provides another dimension in the assessment of origins of populations in Britain by combining multiple isotope proxies. The primary aims of this paper are to 1) demonstrate the potential of lead (Pb) isotope analysis to provide a geographic discriminant between the two major tectonic zones of Great Britain, 2) to show that geological Pb signatures are transferred to the fauna exploiting these in the past and 3) to use the method to refine the geographic constraint of the origins of pigs found at several Neolithic henges in southern England.…”

Section: Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Applying lead (Pb) isotopes to explore mobility in humans and animals

Evans

Pashley²,

Mee³

et al. 2022

PLoS ONE

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Lead (Pb) isotopes provide a complementary method to other provenance tools for tracking the origin and movement of humans and animals. The method is founded in the geographic distribution of Pb isotope ratios. However, unlike the Sr isotope method that is closely linked to the lithology of underlying rocks, Pb more closely reflects the tectonic regimes. This makes it particularly pertinent to use in Britain as there is major tectonic boundary (the Iapetus Suture) that runs between Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Solway Firth providing a compositional boundary in Pb isotope domains that approximates to the geographic areas of Scotland versus England and Wales. Modern pollution makes it difficult to use modern floral or faunal samples to characterize biosphere variation, and so we use geological datasets to define isoscape variation and present the first Pb isotope map of Britain. We have validated the use of these data form biosphere studies using well provenanced samples. Reference fields of diagnostic compositions, are created in μ-T space and these have been used in a test case to assess the geographic origins of Neolithic animals in Great Britain.

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Section: Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternative methods of defining geospatial distribution of Pb isotope compositions therefore have to be found. In an American-based study, prehistoric wild animal data are suggested as the best proxy for biosphere-assimilated Pb [ 6 ] and there is much sense in this recommendation. However, such material is hard to come by in Britain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%