High-resolution serial sampling for nitrogen stable isotope analysis of archaeological mammal teeth

Guiry, Eric J.; Hepburn, Joseph C.; Richards, Michael P.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2016.03.005

Cited by 47 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The presented imaging‐assisted microsampling approach was aimed to take the directionality of incremental growth structures into account as advocated by Humphrey () and Guiry et al () so as to improve the temporal resolution and thus to provide a more accurate representation of alterations in diet within small time spans. By collecting microsamples from tooth dentine, especially from the crown area, we obtained a finer temporal resolution of dietary intake during the weaning process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the increased temporal resolution, we could detect a short-term increase in the otherwise gradually decreasing The presented imaging-assisted microsampling approach was aimed to take the directionality of incremental growth structures into account as advocated by Humphrey (2014) and Guiry et al (2016) so as to improve the temporal resolution and thus to provide a more accurate representation of alterations in diet within small time spans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Imaging‐assisted time‐resolved dentine sampling to track weaning histories

Czermak

Schermelleh

Lee‐Thorp

2018

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Tooth dentine serial sampling followed by isotope analyses allows detection of shifts in an individual's diet during the periods of tooth formation, providing information on breastfeeding, weaning, and childhood nutrition. Current sampling methods, however, do not fully capture the potential resolution of dentine increments because of the difficulties caused by the conical growth pattern, and changes in growth rate during tooth development resulting in uncertain timing. Here, we present an imaging‐assisted microsampling approach that takes the biological growth pattern of dentine into account in an effort to improve temporal resolution. We used high‐resolution light microscopy images of first molar longitudinal thin sections to generate an accurate optical reference of growth pattern and formulated a new scheme to assign collected microsamples to age. This allowed us to track dietary changes over more precisely confined and shorter time periods, providing greater detail and resolution for the breastfeeding and weaning process. We applied our method to track early life dietary history in four individuals from a small cemetery in Alsace, France, dated to the early 5th century AD (the Late Antique/Migration period). Even within this short timescale, 13C/12C and 15N/14N ratio sequences suggest variability in diets and weaning periods, and hint at early maternal mobility.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging‐assisted time‐resolved dentine sampling to track weaning histories

Czermak

Schermelleh

Lee‐Thorp

2018

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…It is essential to bear in mind that it is these soft tissues, and not bone collagen, which form the basis of human diet. In this context, short term fluctuations in the isotopic compositions of nutrients at the base of a freshwater food web can have a strong impact on the isotopic compositions of the edible portion of an animal that will not necessarily be detected in that animal's bone collagen (e.g., Hobson and Clark, 1992;Dalerum and Angerbjörn, 2005;Guiry et al, 2016a). In other words, FIGURE 2 | Generalized schematic showing the range of δ 13 C (left) and δ 15 N (right) that is typically anticipated for fish bone collagen during archaeological paleodietary interpretations compared to the ranges observed more broadly for fish collagen across the ecological literature (e.g., Dufour et al, 1999;Electronic Supplementary Information 1;Miller et al, 2010;Guiry et al, submitted).…”

Section: Differences Between Bone Collagen and Other Tissuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complexities of Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Biogeochemistry in Ancient Freshwater Ecosystems: Implications for the Study of Past Subsistence and Environmental Change

Guiry

2019

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and animal tissues have become an important means of studying both anthropogenic and natural food webs in aquatic ecosystems. Within the rapidly expanding field of human and animal paleodietary analyses, archaeologists routinely incorporate isotopic data from fish, birds, and aquatic mammals into their interpretations of ancient freshwater resources use; however, these studies rarely consider the complex and dynamic nature of the carbon and nitrogen cycles that give structure to nutrient regimes and their isotopic compositions in freshwater ecosystems. This review outlines two thematic areas in which this surge in stable isotope applications to the study of ancient human societies could be enhanced by incorporating concepts from limnology, ecology, and biology. First, building on studies conducted in modern ecosystems, this paper outlines key aspects of the stable isotope ecology of freshwater environments, highlighting the importance of considering physical and biological processes associated with ancient biogeochemical cycles when conducting human paleodietary reconstructions. Second, this paper discusses areas where isotopic analyses of archaeological freshwater animal remains could contribute to broader research fields including climate change and cultural eutrophication research, human impacts on long-term food web dynamics and animal behavior, and by providing novel approaches to reconstructing ancient fish management practices.

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“…Collagen is the main protein in bone and is highly stable at low pH at ambient temperature (Brown et al, 1988;Gage et al, 1989). Accordingly, collagen is unlikely to be affected by bone demineralization (Szpak, 2011;Guiry et al, 2016a), which could explain why demineralization does not affect the 15 N values of mammal bone (Tatsch et al, 2016) or dentine (Brault et al, 2014;Guiry et al, 2016a). Collagen, however, is not the only protein in bone; other non-collagenous proteins could be susceptible to hydrolysis at low pH and hence susceptible to loss during demineralization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of skeletal element identity, delipidation and demineralization on the analysis of stable isotope ratios of C and N in fish bone

Bas

Cardona

2017

Journal of Fish Biology

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Stable isotope ratios of C and N in the bone tissue of three different skeletal elements (angular, cleithrum and vertebra) of three fish species from different evolutionary lineages (Clupeiformes, Atheriniformes and Notothenioidei) were determined before (δ C and δ N ) and after demineralization and delipidation (δ C and δ N ). One of the species had cellular bone and the other two had acellular bone. Results revealed that δ N and δ C values from different skeletal elements were interchangeable in species with acellular bone, but caution was needed in species with cellular bone, as δ N values varied among skeletal elements. Furthermore, δ N values were significantly lower than δ N values in the three species, thus suggesting that they are not comparable. This difference is probably because δ N refers to total bone protein and δ N to collagen only.

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High-resolution serial sampling for nitrogen stable isotope analysis of archaeological mammal teeth

Cited by 47 publications

References 73 publications

Imaging‐assisted time‐resolved dentine sampling to track weaning histories

Imaging‐assisted time‐resolved dentine sampling to track weaning histories

Complexities of Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Biogeochemistry in Ancient Freshwater Ecosystems: Implications for the Study of Past Subsistence and Environmental Change

Effects of skeletal element identity, delipidation and demineralization on the analysis of stable isotope ratios of C and N in fish bone

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