Cattle mobility in prehistoric Britain: strontium isotope analysis of cattle teeth from Durrington Walls (Wiltshire, Britain)

Analysis of seasonal mobility of sheep in Iron Age Catalonia (north-eastern Spain) based on strontium and oxygen isotope analysis from tooth enamel: First results

“…Strontium isotopes ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) provide direct evidence of geographical origins and patterns of livestock mobility (e.g: Balasse et al, 2002;Bentley, 2006;Evans et al, 2007;Pellegrini et al, 2008;Sykes et al, 2006;Viner et al, 2010, Bogaard et al, 2013, Minniti et al, 2014 by the animal, as strontium substitutes for calcium in the minerals of the skeletal tissue (Comar et al, 1957;Toots and Voorhies, 1965). In the case of teeth, the isotopic signature of the enamel bioapatite reflects the period of tooth formation with little subsequent change.…”

“…In the case of teeth, the isotopic signature of the enamel bioapatite reflects the period of tooth formation with little subsequent change. Dentine is more susceptible to diagenetic alteration (Budd et al, 2000;Evans et al, 2007;Price et al, 1992), and therefore its strontium isotopic values usually reflect the burial environment rather than the original lifetime composition (Viner et al, 2010, Minniti et al 2014). …”

“…The enamel samples were prepared following standard practices used at NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory at Keyworth (UK) in previous studies of herbivores (Viner et al 2010, Towers et al 2010. The samples were first mechanically abraded to remove all dentine and cementum.…”

On the hoof: exploring the supply of animals to the Roman legionary fortress at Caerleon using strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis

“…Madgwick et al 2012;Montgomery et al 2010b) and case studies (e.g. Bendrey et al 2009;Towers et al 2010;Viner et al 2010) have demonstrated the value of the method for examining the movement of domestic animals in Britain.…”

Event-based Archaeological Registration Principles

“…Biologically available strontium is influenced strongly by the signature of the underlying geology that erodes and is passed along the food chain. Therefore, the strontium values of underlying rocks should be reflected in the tooth enamel of animals that grazed on them and as such the information pertaining to the geographical origin of individual animals can be gathered (Viner et al 2010(Viner et al , 2812. Based on the above principle, in order to assess whether the animals from Wadian site were born locally or were from diverse geographical origins the local range of strontium isotope ratios must be estimated.…”