Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Sep 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011gecoa..75.4963n&link_type=abstract
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Volume 75, Issue 17, p. 4963-4977.
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
This study investigates the application of sulphur isotope ratios (δ34S) in combination with carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) ratios to understand the influence of environmental sulphur on the isotopic composition of archaeological human and faunal remains from Roman era sites in Oxfordshire, UK. Humans (n = 83), terrestrial animals (n = 11), and freshwater fish (n = 5) were analysed for their isotope values from four locations in the Thames River Valley, and a broad range of δ34S values were found. The δ34S values from the terrestrial animals were highly variable (-13.6‰ to +0.5‰), but the δ34S values of the fish were clustered and 34S-depleted (-20.9‰ to -17.3‰). The results of the faunal remains suggest that riverine sulphur influenced the terrestrial sulphur isotopic signatures. Terrestrial animals were possibly raised on the floodplains of the River Thames, where highly 34S-depleted sulphur influenced the soil. The humans show the largest range of δ34S values (-18.8‰ to +9.6‰) from any archaeological context to date. No differences in δ34S values were found between the males (-7.8 ± 6.0‰) and females (-5.3 ± 6.8‰), but the females had a linear correlation (R2 = 0.71; p < 0.0001) between their δ15N and δ34S compositions. These δ34S results suggest a greater dietary variability for the inhabitants of Roman Oxfordshire than previously thought, with some individuals eating solely terrestrial protein resources and others showing a diet almost exclusively based on freshwater protein such as fish. Such large dietary variability was not visible by analysing only the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, and this research represents the largest and most detailed application of δ34S analysis to examine dietary practices (including breastfeeding and weaning patterns) during the Romano-British Period.
Fuller Benjamin T.
Jay Mandy
Mora Alice
Nehlich Olaf
Nicholson Rebecca A.
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