Oxygen isotopes in bioarchaeology: Principles and applications, challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Oxygen isotope analyses of skeletal remains (18 O/ 16 O, δ 18 O) are a powerful tool for exploring major themes in bioarchaeology (the study of biological archaeological remains) and can aid in the reconstruction of past human-environment interactions, socio-cultural decisions and individual life histories. Making use of the preserved animal and human tooth and bone commonly found at archaeological sites, applications include the reconstruction of palaeoclimate and palaeoseasonality; animal husbandry and management practices; human and animal lifetime mobility and provenance; and cultural practices such as breastfeeding, weaning and even past culinary preparation techniques. With a range of other uses across the natural, physical, chemical and biological sciences, oxygen isotope analyses are also highly cross-disciplinary, with developments in the field of isotope bioarchaeology potentially feeding into other fields and vice-versa. The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the biogeochemical background of oxygen isotope systematics from the water cycle to human and animal skeletal tissues for archaeologists and other scientists, and to explore how these have been utilised in terrestrial bioarchaeological research. In this way, we aim to provide an overview resource for stable isotope analysts in archaeology and the wider earth science community, as well as for archaeological practitioners and consumers interested in specific applications. By providing a summary of fundamental isotope mechanics alongside a review of recent developments in the field, we hope to highlight the potential of oxygen isotope bioarchaeology to not only reveal environmental and ecological aspects of the past relevant to human groups using archaeological materials, but also to illuminate past human decisions and behaviours. Current limitations and caveats of the approaches used are also explored.

Who were the Hyksos? Challenging traditional narratives using strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis of human remains from ancient Egypt

“…It is possible that women hailed from the same origins in this time, but this might be an issue of equifinality and they have childhood residences in different parts of the world with similar underlying geologies [64][65][66]. Oxygen stable isotope (δ 18 O) analysis is an additional tool for investigating paleomobility in a bioarchaeological context [67] and has been used in previous Egyptian and Sudanese studies [45,[68][69][70][71][72]. Future research utilizing δ 18 O analysis on the Tell el-Dab'a assemblage might hold promise for identifying these non-locals with local 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values.…”

Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information

“…In terrestrial animals, the carbon of food webs is derived from plants that undergo either C 3 or C 4 photosynthesis (56), providing a complementary dietary tracer to δ 66 Zn values. While an array of complex variables are likely to induce variations in the oxygen isotopic composition (δ 18 O) of tooth enamel in homeothermic vertebrates (57)(58)(59), the present study seeks to explore possible relation between δ 18 O values and Zn isotopic composition, mostly relative to diet and physiology. A subsample of 23 specimens was also analyzed for dentin collagen δ 13 C and δ 15 N values in order to assess the preservation of organic material.…”

Oxygen isotope analysis of Equus teeth evidences early Eemian and early Weichselian palaeotemperatures at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Neumark-Nord 2, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

“…Drysdale et al, 2005;McDermott et al, 1999;Vansteenberge et al, 2019), as well as biogenic hard tissues including shells of bivalves or other molluscs (e.g. Goodwin et al, 2003;Latal et al, 2006;Schöne et al, 2004), or mammal bone and tooth (see review in Pederzani and Britton, 2019). These methods are based on the relationship between the oxygen isotope composition (δ 18 O) of these biominerals and the δ 18 O of local environmental water (Iacumin et al, 1996;Kohn, 1996;Longinelli, 1984;Luz et al, 1984), which is related to the δ 18 O of precipitation, reflecting local temperature and other factors (Clark and Fritz, 1997;Dansgaard, 1964;Gat, 1980;Yurtsever, 1975).…”