Using Carbon, Oxygen, Strontium, and Lead Isotopes in Modern Human Teeth for Forensic Investigations: A Critical Overview Based on Data from Bulgaria

Kamenov, George D.; Curtis, Jason H.

doi:10.1111/1556-4029.13462

Cited by 22 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…tissue) [67]. Thus, Sr isotope analysis of human tissues can be used to reconstruct the potential travel movement history of individuals [22,68,69] through comparison of measured 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios in a sample to published Sr isoscapes or other reference sample datasets.…”

Section: Isotopes Used For Human Provenancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent applications of isotope analysis to forensic anthropology

Bartelink

Chesson²

2019

Forensic Sciences Research

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Isotope analysis has become an increasingly valuable tool in forensic anthropology casework over the past decade. Modern-day isotopic investigations on human remains have integrated the use of multi-isotope profiles (e.g. C, N, O, H, S, Sr, and Pb) as well as isotopic landscapes (“isoscapes”) from multiple body tissues (e.g. teeth, bone, hair, and nails) to predict possible region-of-origin of unidentified human remains. Together, data from various isotope analyses provide additional lines of evidence for human identification, including a decedent’s possible region-of-birth, long-term adult residence, recent travel history, and dietary choices. Here, we present the basic principles of isotope analysis and provide a brief overview of instrumentation, analytical standards, sample selection, and sample quality measures. Finally, we present case studies that reflect the diverse applications of isotope analysis to the medicolegal system before describing some future research directions. As shown herein, isotope analysis is a flexible and powerful geolocation tool that can provide new investigative leads for unidentified human remains cases.

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Section: Isotopes Used For Human Provenancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, additional reference datasets of Pb isotopic variations in human tissues are available, e.g. [29,69,73,74]. Like Sr, Pb can substitute for calcium in bone and teeth and there is generally no isotopic fractionation between element source and human tissue.…”

Section: Isotopes Used For Human Provenancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent applications of isotope analysis to forensic anthropology

Bartelink

Chesson²

2019

Forensic Sciences Research

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“…Publication of isotope data from different human populations provides an opportunity to create amalgamated data sets (e.g., Pollard et al 2011;Lightfoot and O'Connell 2016;Someda et al 2016;Kamenov and Curtis 2017). Unfortunately, adequate assessment of comparability is not always undertaken before isotope data from the anthropological, archaeological and/or forensic literature are directly compiled.…”

Section: Background To Human Identification Using Isotopic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Lightfoot and O'Connell ; Someda et al . ; Kamenov and Curtis ). Unfortunately, adequate assessment of comparability is not always undertaken before isotope data from the anthropological, archaeological and/or forensic literature are directly compiled.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing data comparability in the creation of combined data sets of bioapatite carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions

et al. 2019

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Before amalgamating published isotope data, comparability should be demonstrated. This paper compares carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of 30 enamel samples measured by two laboratories. The aims were to see what, if any, isotopic variation was observed, to determine the causes as needed and to correct if possible. Bioapatite was acidified at 90°C in 2006 and at 26°C in 2017, while δ values were corrected via one‐point normalization in 2006 and by two‐point normalization in 2017. One case (of the 30) produced different δ values between the analysis dates, suggesting contamination. Repeated carbon isotope ratio measurements were not meaningfully different. Repeated oxygen isotope ratio measurements were significantly different, even following correction for acid‐carbonate fractionation at different temperatures and the renormalization of 2017 δ values using one point; however, differences were not meaningful for interpretations. Results were used to calculate real interpretative differences (RIDs) for comparing enamel bioapatite as 0.6‰ for δ13C values and as 1.6‰ for δ18O values.

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“…Determination of sex is an important first step in the identification process of an individual in a forensic examination. A biological profile which includes age, race, and stature when determined from the various human remains are amongst several other key parameters that need to be rapidly determined [ 1 2 ]. Reports from previous studies have indicated that virtually every human bone has been used for sex determination with varying accuracy rates [ 3 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex determination using humeral dimensions in a sample from KwaZulu-Natal: an osteometric study

et al. 2017

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The morphological characteristics of the humeral bone has been investigated in recent times with studies showing varying degrees of sexual dimorphism. Osteologists and forensic scientists have shown that sex determination methods based on skeletal measurements are population specific, and these population-specific variations are present in many body dimensions. The present study aims to establish sex identification using osteometric standards for the humerus in a contemporary KwaZulu-Natal population. A total of 11 parameters were measured in a sample of n=211 humeri (males, 113; females, 98) from the osteological collection in the Discipline of Clinical Anatomy, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. The difference in means for nearly all variables were found to be significantly higher in males compared to females (P<0.01) with the most effective single parameter for predicting sex being the vertical head diameter having an accuracy of 82.5%. Stepwise discriminant analysis increased the overall accuracy rate to 87.7% when all measurements were jointly applied. We conclude that the humerus is an important bone which can be reliably used for sex determination based on standard metric methods despite minor tribal or ancestral differences amongst an otherwise homogenous population.

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Using Carbon, Oxygen, Strontium, and Lead Isotopes in Modern Human Teeth for Forensic Investigations: A Critical Overview Based on Data from Bulgaria

Cited by 22 publications

References 35 publications

Recent applications of isotope analysis to forensic anthropology

Recent applications of isotope analysis to forensic anthropology

Addressing data comparability in the creation of combined data sets of bioapatite carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions

Sex determination using humeral dimensions in a sample from KwaZulu-Natal: an osteometric study

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