Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology

Hedges, R. E. M.; Reynard, Linda M.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.015

Cited by 792 publications

(702 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Were the local food A second possibility is a change in diet over time. Without local fauna, this is impossible to document clearly, and in any case, the issue is not simple (Hedges & Reynard 2007). A shift from a modest exploitation of cow to a large emphasis on pig, for As noted, fish consumption could also elevate d 15 N values.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dates, Diet, and Dismemberment: Evidence from the Coldrum Megalithic Monument, Kent

Wysocki

Griffiths

Hedges

et al. 2013

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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We present radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data, and osteological analysis of the remains of a minimum of 17 individuals deposited in the western part of the burial chamber at Coldrum, Kent. This is one of the Medway group of megalithic monuments – sites with shared architectural motifs and no very close parallels elsewhere in Britain – whose location has been seen as important in terms of the origins of Neolithic material culture and practices in Britain. The osteological analysis identified the largest assemblage of cut-marked human bone yet reported from a British early Neolithic chambered tomb; these modifications were probably undertaken as part of burial practices. The stable isotope dataset shows very enriched δ15N values, the causes of which are not entirely clear, but could include consumption of freshwater fish resources. Bayesian statistical modelling of the radiocarbon dates demonstrates that Coldrum is an early example of a British Neolithic burial monument, though the tomb was perhaps not part of the earliest Neolithic evidence in the Greater Thames Estuary. The site was probably initiated after the first appearance of other early Neolithic regional phenomena including an inhumation burial, early Neolithic pottery and a characteristic early Neolithic post-and-slot structure, and perhaps of Neolithic flint extraction in the Sussex mines. Coldrum is the only site in the Medway monument group to have samples which have been radiocarbon dated, and is important both for regional studies of the early Neolithic and wider narratives of the processes, timing, and tempo of Neolithisation across Britain

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dates, Diet, and Dismemberment: Evidence from the Coldrum Megalithic Monument, Kent

Wysocki

Griffiths

Hedges

et al. 2013

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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“…However, the distinction of animal-rich diets from plant-rich diets using d 15 N values (Minagawa and Wada, 1984) is less straightforward than previously thought (i.e. Hedges and Reynard, 2007;Warinner et al, 2013).…”

Section: Stable Isotopes and Palaeodietary Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotope evidence for the use of marine resources in the Eastern Iberian Mesolithic

Salazar‐García¹,

Aura²,

Olària³

et al. 2014

Journal of Archaeological Science

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a b s t r a c tThere are relatively few coastal Mesolithic sites in the Iberian Mediterranean region, probably due to a number of factors including sea level changes and the disappearance of sites due to agriculture and urbanisation. However, recent excavations have uncovered inland sites that have marine faunal remains (i.e. molluscs and fish) and lithics from the coastal area, which both indicate interactions between the coast and the upland valleys. These inland sites are located at a distance of 30e50 km from today's coastline and are at altitudes higher than 1000 m. We report on additional information on the links between the coast and these inland sites through the use of dietary isotope analysis (carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis) of collagen extracted from human and faunal remains at the sites of Coves de Santa Maira, Penya del Comptador and Cingle del Mas Nou. The results indicate that Mesolithic diet in this region was largely based on C 3 terrestrial resources, but there was measurable evidence of low-level consumption of marine resources at both coastal and inland sites.

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“…Parallel to this, the δ 15 N stable isotope ratio increases by 3-5‰ up the food-chain with each trophic level, and is usually used to indicate the position of an organism in the food chain (Minagawa and Wada, 1984). Based on the exact values of the nitrogen ratio, it is potentially possible to differentiate between individuals that consumed more animal resources from those who consumed very little animal proteins (Fahy et al, 2013), even if this quantification is less straightforward than previously thought (Hedges and Reynard, 2007). Furthermore, the fact that aquatic food chains tend to contain more trophic levels than terrestrial ones helps carbon isotope ratios to discriminate between the consumption of marine or C 4 terrestrial foods when samples are 13 C enriched (Schoeninger and De Niro, 1984).…”

Section: Stable Isotopes and Buccal-microwear In Dietary Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

Salazar‐García

Romero

García-Borja

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Stable isotope and dental-microwear analysis are methods commonly used to reconstruct dietary habits in modern and ancient human populations. However, it is rare that they are both used together in the same study, and here both methods are combined to obtain information on human dietary habits from the site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain) through time. Middle Neolithic, Late Roman and Medieval (Islamic) individuals have been analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of bone collagen, as well as for buccal-dental microwear. Overall, δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotopic values show that for all periods the diet was mainly based on C 3 terrestrial resources. However, the isotopic signature suggests a small, but clear amount of marine protein consumption during the Neolithic period and possibly also for a few individuals from the Medieval period. When compared to other studies from the region, it is also possible to see that the consumption of C 4 resources was much more extensive during Medieval times than in previous periods. Microwear scratch density and length found for teeth from the Neolithic and Medieval periods reflect a diet in which tough foods predominated, requiring substantial pressure to chew in comparison with what was recorded for the Roman individuals. Combined with the δ 15 N data, the microwear signature suggests a higher input of marine/gritty resources among the Neolithic and Medieval populations compared to the Romans. Our findings also suggest that dietary patterns might be explained by cultural and technological population factors rather than habitat resource availability.

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Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology

Cited by 792 publications

References 70 publications

Dates, Diet, and Dismemberment: Evidence from the Coldrum Megalithic Monument, Kent

Dates, Diet, and Dismemberment: Evidence from the Coldrum Megalithic Monument, Kent

Isotope evidence for the use of marine resources in the Eastern Iberian Mesolithic

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

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