The identification of poultry processing in archaeological ceramic vessels using in-situ isotope references for organic residue analysis.

Poultry products are rarely considered when reconstructing pottery use through organic residue analysis, impinging upon our understanding of the changing role of these animals in the past. Here we evaluate an isotopic approach for distinguishing chicken fats from other animal products. We compare the carbon isotopes of fatty acids extracted from modern tissues and archaeological bones and demonstrate that archaeological bones from contexts associated with pottery provide suitable reference ranges for distinguishing omnivorous animal products (e.g. pigs vs. chickens) in pots. When applied to pottery from the Anglo-Saxon site of Flixborough, England, we succeeded in identifying residues derived from chicken fats that otherwise could not be distinguished from other monogastric and ruminant animals using modern reference values only. This provides the first direct evidence for the processing of poultry or their products in pottery. The results highlight the utility of ‘in-situ’ archaeological bone lipids to identify omnivorous animal-derived lipids in archaeological ceramic vessels

Late Pleistocene-Holocene coastal adaptation in central Mediterranean: Snapshots from Grotta d’Oriente (NW Sicily)

Marine faunal remains from Grotta d’Oriente (Favignana Island, NW Sicily) offer invaluable snapshots of human-coastal environment interaction in the central Mediterranean from the Late Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene. The long-term shellfish and fish records reflect human exploitation of coastal environments undergoing considerable reorganizations during the postglacial sea level rise and the progressive isolation of Favignana from mainland Sicily. We detected an intensification of marine resource exploitation between ∼9.6 ka and ∼7.8 ka BP, which corresponds with the isolation of Favignana Island and, later on, with the introduction of early agro-pastoral economy in this region. We suggest that a higher investment in marine resource exploitation by late foragers and early farmers in NW Sicily was also supported by an increase in marine productivity in the south Tyrrhenian Sea in the Middle Holocene

Stable isotope composition of <i>Helix ligata</i> (Muller, 1774) from Late Pleistocene-Holocene archaeological record from Grotta della Serratura (Southern Italy): Palaeoclimtic implications

Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were measured in fossil and recent shells of the land snail Helix ligata. Fossil shells were recovered from the archaeological excavations of Grotta della Serratura and recent specimens collected adjacent to the cave. The record is discontinuous and spans from ca 14 to 7 ka cal BP. The oxygen isotope composition of the fossil shells suggests they were grown from environmental waters (e.g. precipitation) isotopically similar to the present during the recorded part of the Late Glacial. A notable exception is represented by a layer at ca 13.4 ka cal BP, with shells characterised by 18O-enriched values, suggesting drier conditions, with rainfall perhaps reduced by 25% compared to the present day. This layer could correspond in part with the GI-1b event of the Greenland ice-core records. The onset of the Holocene was marked by a decrease of δ18O, suggesting an increase in humidity. Significantly lower δ18O values occur at ca 7.4 ka cal BP, in agreement with other stable isotope records, which suggests enhanced rainfall over the Mediterranean region at that time

Stable isotope composition of Late Glacial land snail shells from Grotta del Romito (Southern Italy): Palaeoclimatic implications.

Stable isotope composition of living and fossil land snail shells was determined at Grotta del Romito (Southern Italy) with the aim to reconstruct environmental and climatic variation in the area during Late Upper Palaeolithic. The investigated succession comprised 15 different excavated layers spanning between ca 13,000 and 14,500 yr cal BP. The oxygen isotope composition of snail shells indicates a marked decrease at the layer D8 suggesting a climatic deterioration consistent with the GI 1d climatic event (Older Dryas). This climate deterioration may have been related to a substantial decrease of mean annual temperature with associated changes in the regional atmospheric circulation. However, the environmental conditions at the time of shell's growth in the other intervals sampled suggest condition comparable to the present day. The carbon isotope composition of fossil snail shells is in agreement with other records, which indicate a general increase of the δ13C values of organic matter during Pleniglacial to Late Glacial caused by substantially lower atmospheric CO2 concentration at that time

Holocene snail shell isotopic record of millennial-scale hydrological conditions in western Mediterranean: data from Bauma del Serrat del Pont (NE Iberian Peninsula)

Land snail shells are a common component in Mediterranean Holocene archaeological deposits, providing the opportunity to explore their potential as source of information concerning human behaviour and palaeoclimatic conditions. Many well-preserved shells of the caenogastropod Pomatias elegans were recovered along the Holocene succession of Baumadel Serrat del Pont (BSP), in the Iberian Peninsula. Their oxygen (d18Os) and carbon (d13Cs) isotopic compositions were analysed and compared with that of modern shells of the samespecies collected intwo distinct areasnear the archaeological site.Modernshells fromSiteA(shady) and B (sunny) show distinctly different oxygen isotopic ratios possibly due to the effect of microenvironmental conditions (e.g. temperature and relative humidity). Carbon isotopes, by contrast, reveal similar values. Isotope mass balance suggests a prevalent contribution of vegetation (w70%), integrated with foreign carbonates (w30%) to d13Cs of modern snails. Earlyelate Holocene shells (w9e2.5 cal ka BP) have lower d18Os compared with modern counterparts, which is consistent with prevailing wetter conditions compared with present day. The d13Cs reveals distinct hydrological regimes, wet and dry conditions, from early to late Holocene respectively. In general, shell isotopic records from western and central Mediterranean regions suggest wetter conditions during the middle Holocene, with a possible reduction in humidity from w4 cal ka BP. The d18Os indicates a possible latitudinal difference in hydrological balance between Mediterranean and Atlantic Europe as inferred by previous studies of regional palaeoclimatic records. Carbon isotopes, by contrast, do not provide a clear climatic picture, probably due to the effect of distinct vegetation structure and composition. Comparisons with other environmental archives reinforce the concept of regional shell oxygen isotopic response to millennial-scale changes in hydrological condition over the western and central Mediterranean during the late Quaternary

Deciphering late Quaternary land snail shell δ18 O and δ13 C from Franchthi Cave (Argolid, Greece).

This paper investigates the stable isotopic composition from late Pleistocene-Holocene (~13 to ~10.5calka BP) shells of the land snail Helix figulina, from Franchthi Cave (Greece). It explores the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental implications of the isotope palaeoecology of archaeological shells at the time of human occupation of the cave. Modern shells from around the cave were also analysed and their isotopic signatures compared with those of the archaeological shells. The carbon isotope composition of modern shells depicts the consumption of C3 vegetation. Shell oxygen isotopic values are consistent with other Mediterranean snail shells from coastal areas. Combining empirical linear regression and an evaporative model, the δ18Os suggest that modern snails in the study area are active during periods of higher relative humidity and lower rainfall δ18O, probably at night. Late glacial and early Holocene δ18Os show lower values compared to modern ones. Early Holocene δ18Os values likely track enhanced moisture and isotopic changes in the precipitation source. By contrast, lower late glacial δ18O could reflect lower temperatures and δ18Op, compared to the present day. Shell carbon isotope values indicate the presence of C3 vegetation as main source of carbon to late glacial and early Holocene snails

Isotopic composition of Conomurex fasciatus shells as an environmental proxy for the Red Sea

The marine gastropod Conomurex fasciatus (Born 1778) is the main component of thousands of shell middens on the Farasan Islands in the southern Red Sea. The middens date from 6500 to 4500 cal BP and cover the period of increased aridification over the region. No general research on C. fasciatus has been carried out before and basic information about the species is mostly speculative. To test if C. fasciatus shells can be used as a recorder of climate variability, we collected living specimens from the Farasan Islands, in Saudi Arabia, over a 1.5 year period. This area receives almost no precipitation and sea surface salinity is extremely high (38–39 psu), and sea surface temperature (SST) ranges from +26.5 °C to +34.9 °C. Raman spectroscopy results on modern C. fasciatus shell samples show these specimens to be aragonitic. Ground fragments from archaeological C. fasciatus shells used for isotope analyses were also measured by Raman spectroscopy and shown to be well preserved against diagenetic alterations leading to aragonite to calcite transformation. Measured shell-edge δ18O values range from −0.5‰ to −1.7‰. Calculated modern shell edge temperatures from these δ18O values correlate with modern SST measured on site with an error of ±2.4 °C. Two different growth rates occurred in the shells of C. fasciatus. The measurement of growth increments in the lip part of adult specimens indicates a tide-related growth rate of ∼13 mm/year. Sequential δ18O data from juvenile parts of the shell indicates a faster growth rate of ∼90 mm/year. This growth rate and the correlation of δ18O with measured temperatures allows the use of C. fasciatus shell δ18O as a palaeoclimate proxy

Oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of modern terrestrial gastropod shells from Lipari Island, Aeolian Archipelago (Sicily)

Oxygen (δ18Os) and stable carbon (δ13Cs) isotopic compositions of modern terrestrial gastropod shells from Lipari Island, in the Aeolian Archipelago (Sicily), have been analysed and compared with local meteoric water δ18O (δ18Op) and vegetation δ13C (δ13Cv) respectively. Results reveal that the δ18Os–δ18Op relationship over the study area differs from those obtained on continental Europe and Italian shells, implying that even at the scale of the Mediterranean basin different relationships may co-exist. These differences have been interpreted as the increasing influence of Mediterranean vapour water on Tyrrhenian coasts at relatively low altitude (up to ~600 m asl), which compensates for the effect of the δ18Op, and possibly of temperature, on shell δ18O. The steady-state flux balance model (FBM), in agreement with previous studies, suggests that snails are active prevalently at night. Shell carbon isotope ratios reflect the δ13Cv, as predicted by the metabolic model and represent a valuable tool for identifying C3 plants with very distinct isotopic signatures

Stable isotope composition of Late Pleistocene-Holocene <i>Eobania vermiculata</i> (Muller, 1774) (Pulmonata, Stylommatophora) shells from the Central Mediterranean basin: data from Grotta d'Oriente (Favignana, Sicily)

&lt;p&gt;This paper presents stable isotopic results (oxygen and carbon) from both modern and Late Pleistocene-Holocene shells of the land snail &lt;i&gt;Eobania vermiculata&lt;/i&gt; (Müller, 1774) from Favignana Island (Sicily). It aims to contribute to the understanding of climate and vegetation history of this region during formation of Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Meso-Neolithic deposits of Grotta d’Oriente (ORT). Results from both an evaporative model (FBM) and an empirical regional isotopic model (i.e. linear relation between oxygen isotopic composition of shells (δ&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;Os) and those of local precipitation (δ&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;Op)) indicate that the δ&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;Os values of modern specimens are mainly controlled by local temperature, relative humidity and δ&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;Op at the time of snail activity. Data also suggest that the modern snails are nocturnally active almost all-year round in the study area. The carbon isotopic compositions of shells (δ&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;Cs) of the same specimens indicate a diet prevalently (or exclusively) composed of C3 vegetation.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The δ&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;Os values of Late Pleistocene specimens suggest that climate conditions at ∼14.2 ka cal BP were similar to the present day, in agreement with additional δ&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;Os records from southern Italy. By contrast, early-middle Holocene shells are notably 18O-depleted and suggest wetter conditions, possibly combined with a decrease in isotopic composition of precipitation source, compared to the present day. When compared with regional palaeoclimatic records a large-scale isotopic response to millennial-scale changes in atmospheric and hydrological conditions (e.g. enhanced rainfall) in the central-eastern Mediterranean is observed during the early-middle Holocene. The δ&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;Cs of Late Pleistocene and Holocene specimens are consistently higher than those of modern ones. For the Late Pleistocene, this could be reasonably explained in terms of water-stressed vegetation. On the other hand, this seems to be less valid for Holocene counterparts when the climate was wetter. Probably δ&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;Cs values result from the combination of distinct competing factors, involving atmospheric CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; concentration, seasonal water budget, vegetation type-cover and other carbon sources. Results reveal coherent relationships between regional δ&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;Os and δ&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;Cs, demonstrating that Late Pleistocene-Holocene land snail shell remains from archaeological sites may provide useful snapshots of past seasonal climate conditions.&lt;/p&gt

The Late Pleistocene clastic deposit in the Romito Cave, southern Italy: a proxy record of environmental change and human presence

Clastic sediments deposited in caves and rock shelters bear peculiar sedimentological characteristics and have seldom been considered as a high-resolution proxy record of climatic or environmental changes. The Romito Cave has its entrance at 275 m above sea level, about 25 km from the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, southern Italy. New archaeological excavation performed since 2000 has revealed a sedimentary succession spanning the record of Gravettian to Late Epigravettian cultures (Late Pleistocene). The present study focuses on the lower part (2.5 m thick) of the succession, where three main unconformity-bounded stratigraphic units have been recognised (labelled RM1–3). Each unit consists of water-lain deposits indicating high-to low-competence flow, capped with anthropogenic deposits. The gradual deactivation and reactivation of the water drainage between 23475+/-190 and 16250+/-500 cal. a BP is correlated with regional precipitation changes due to the onset of dry climatic conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum. However, the deactivation of cave drainage after the deposition of unit RM3, around 15400+/-500 cal. a BP, deviates from the regional hydrological trend of progressively increasing water discharges and is attributed to the drainage cut-off by probable cave wall collapses