80 research outputs found
Les isotopes des métaux de transition (Cu, Fe, Zn) au service de l'anthropologie
First developed in geochemistry, isotopic analyses have progressively become a classical tool in anthropology since the seventies. They provide supplementary metabolic information to osteology, such as mobility or diet of past populations. However, isotopic studies only concern six elements among the thirty of the human body. Therefore, other elements could supply information on sex, age-at-death or fecundity, which still are crucial issues in anthropology.The aim of this thesis is to understand the origin of copper, iron and zinc isotopic variability in the human body, and to assess the contribution of these elements for anthropology. In order to do this, metals were purified from sample matrix by liquid chromatography on ion exchange resin and the isotope compositions were measured by multiple-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). ÎŽ56Fe and ÎŽ65Cu analyses performed on phalanx of skeletons coming from a french cementery (Saint-Laurent de Grenoble) revealed an isotopic sex difference which mirrors the one found in blood. Concerning its origin, calculations and data obtained on dental enamel support the hypothesis that the isotopic sex difference is due to a higher metal hepatic solicitation for women rather than differential intestinal absorption between men and women. Blood isotopic data from French and Yakut population also highlighted three other significant factors of variability: menopause, age, and cold stress. Our results argue for the development of Fe, Cu, and Zn stable isotope analyses in human remains as a potential vehicle for information on age-at-death, age at menopause, sex and metabolic adaptation to cold stress of past populations.Depuis les annĂ©es soixante-dix, lâoutil isotopique, dâabord dĂ©veloppĂ© en gĂ©ochimie, sâest gĂ©nĂ©ralisĂ© en anthropologie. Il est en effet susceptible dâapporter des informations mĂ©taboliques complĂ©mentaires Ă lâĂ©tude ostĂ©ologique, notamment sur la mobilitĂ© et lâalimentation des populations passĂ©es. Cependant, sur la trentaine dâĂ©lĂ©ments prĂ©sente dans le corps humain, seuls six dâentre eux sont classiquement Ă©tudiĂ©s dans les ossements. DĂšs lors, les isotopes stables dâautres Ă©lĂ©ments reprĂ©sentent une source dâinformations inexploitĂ©e. Ils pourraient effectivement contribuer aux questions cruciales que sont la diagnose sexuelle, lâestimation de la fĂ©conditĂ© ou encore lâĂ©valuation de lâĂąge au dĂ©cĂšs.Le but de ce travail de thĂšse est de comprendre lâorigine de la variabilitĂ© isotopique du cuivre, du zinc et du fer dans le corps humain, et ainsi, dâĂ©valuer lâapport potentiel de ces mĂ©taux de transition Ă lâanthropologie. Pour cela, les Ă©lĂ©ments ont Ă©tĂ© sĂ©parĂ©s par chromatographie sur rĂ©sine Ă©changeuse dâions. Puis les rapports isotopiques ont Ă©tĂ© mesurĂ©s par spectromĂ©trie de masse Ă source plasma et Ă multicollection (MC-ICP-MS).Lâanalyse du ÎŽ56Fe et ÎŽ65Cu de phalanges de squelettes du XVII-XVIIIĂšmes siĂšcles provenant de Saint-Laurent de Grenoble a permis de mettre en Ă©vidence une diffĂ©rence isotopique entre hommes et femmes, reflet de celle observĂ©e dans le sang. Cette dissemblance isotopique est discutĂ©e Ă partir dâun modĂšle mathĂ©matique sâappuyant sur nos analyses du foie et de lâĂ©mail dentaire. Celui-ci nous a amenĂ©s Ă mettre en cause le rĂŽle de la sollicitation hĂ©patique dans la composition isotopique du sang plutĂŽt que celui de lâabsorption intestinale. LâĂ©tude du ÎŽ56Fe, ÎŽ65Cu et ÎŽ66Zn dans le sang dâune population française et dâune population yakoute a Ă©galement contribuĂ© Ă dĂ©gager trois autres facteurs significatifs de variabilitĂ© isotopique : la mĂ©nopause, lâĂąge et le stress thermique.Nos rĂ©sultats sont donc en faveur du dĂ©veloppement de lâanalyse des isotopes stables du Fe, Cu et Zn des restes humains en tant que vecteur potentiel dâinformations sur leur Ăąge au dĂ©cĂšs, Ăąge Ă la mĂ©nopause, sexe et adaptation mĂ©tabolique au froid
Sampling Plants and Malacofauna in 87Sr/86Sr Bioavailability Studies : implications for isoscape mapping and reconstructing of past mobility patterns
Acknowledgments: We thank Annabell Reiner and Sven Steinbrenner (MPI-EVA) for technical and practical support with preparation and analysis of samples. We thank the La Ferrassie Team for support during field sampling and project development, especially Harold Dibble, Shannon McPherron (MPI-EVA), Teresa Steele (UC Davies), Vera Aldeias (MPI-EVA, University of Algarve), Paul Goldberg (University of Wollongong, University TĂŒbingen), Dennis Sandgathe (Simon Fraser University, University of Pennsylvania), Alain Turq (MusĂ©e national de PrĂ©histoire, CNRS), and Jean-Jacques Hublin (MPI-EVA), as well as Mike Richards (SFU). Special thanks to Daphne Katranides and Aaron Katranides. We also thank the editor (TP) and two reviewers whose constructive comments greatly improved this manuscript. Funding: This research was funded by the Max Planck Society and a Leverhulme Trust grant to KB (RPG-2017-410), with additional support from Australian Research Council Discovery grants DP0664144 and DP110101417 to RG. KJ thanks the ERC ARCHEIS 803676, and IM thanks Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (DE160100703), for salary support during production of this manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Tracing intensive fish and meat consumption using Zn isotope ratios: evidence from a historical Breton population (Rennes, France)
International audienceHere we report Sr and Zn isotope ratios of teeth of medieval to early modern Breton people a population whose diet is known from historical, archeological and collagen isotope data. Most of the population, buried in the Dominican convent of Rennes, France, consists of parliamentary nobles, wealthy commoners and ecclesiastics, who had a diet rich in animal products. Our aim is to assess how the Zn isotope ratios of their teeth compare to those of other French historical populations previously studied, which were characterized by cereal-based diets, and those of modern French individuals, who daily eat animal products. We describe a clear offset (âŒ0.35â°) between local and non-local human individuals in Zn isotope ratios. The ÎŽ 66 Zn tooth values of local individuals overlap that of modern French people, and are lower than those of local carnivores. Non-local ÎŽ 66 Zn values are similar to those of historical individuals analyzed previously. We conclude the lower Zn isotope ratios of local humans relative to the associated fauna can be explained by the consumption of carnivorous fish and pork, in agreement with historical, zooarchaeological and collagen (C, N, S) isotope data. Zn isotopes could therefore be a tracer of fish and/or substantial meat consumption in ancient populations
Strontium Isotope Evidence for Neanderthal and Modern Human Mobility at the Upper and Middle Palaeolithic Site of Fumane Cave (Italy)
To investigate the mobility patterns of Neanderthals and modern humans in Europe during the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition period, we applied strontium isotope analysis to Neanderthal (n = 3) and modern human (n = 2) teeth recovered from the site of Fumane Cave in the Monti Lessini region of Northern Italy. We also measured a large number of environmental samples from the region, to establish a strontium âbaselineâ, and also micromammals (vole teeth) from the levels associated with the hominin teeth. We found that the modern humans and Neanderthals had similar strontium isotope values, and these values match the local baseline values we obtained for the site and the surrounding region. We conclude that both groups were utilizing the local mountainous region where Fumane Cave is situated, and likely the nearby Lessini highlands and Adige plains, and therefore the strontium evidence does not show differening mobility patterns between Neanderthals and modern humans at the Fumane site
Sampling Plants and Malacofauna in 87Sr/86Sr Bioavailability Studies: Implications for Isoscape Mapping and Reconstructing of Past Mobility Patterns
Establishing strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) geographical variability is a key component of any study that seeks to utilize strontium isotopes as tracers of provenance or mobility. Although lithological maps can provide a guideline, estimations of bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr are often necessary, both in qualitative estimates of local strontium isotope "catchments" and for informing/refining isoscape models. Local soils, plants and/or animal remains are commonly included in bioavailability studies, although consensus on what (and how extensively) to sample is lacking. In this study, 96 biological samples (plants and snails) were collected at 17 locations spanning 6 lithological units, within a region of south-west France and an area with a high concentration of Paleolithic archaeological sites. Sampling sites aligned with those from a previous study on soil bioavailable strontium, and comparison with these values, and the influence of environmental and anthropogenic variables, was explored. Data confirm a broad correspondence of plant and snail 87Sr/86Sr values with lithological unit/soil values, although the correlation between expected 87Sr/86Sr values from lithology and bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr ratios from biological samples was higher for plants than for snails. Grass, shrub and tree 87Sr/86Sr values were similar but grasses had a stronger relationship with topsoil values than trees, reflecting differences in root architecture. Variability in 87Sr/86Sr ratios from all plant samples was lower for sites located on homogeneous geological substrates than for those on heterogeneous substrates, such as granite. Among environmental and anthropogenic variables, only an effect of proximity to water was detected, with increased 87Sr/86Sr values in plants from sites close to rivers originating from radiogenic bedrock. The results highlight the importance of analyzing biological samples to complement, inform and refine strontium isoscape models. The sampling of plants rather than snails is recommended, including plants of varying root depth, and (if sample size is a limitation) to collect a greater number of samples from areas with heterogeneous geological substrates to improve the characterizations of those regions. Finally, we call for new experimental studies on the mineralized tissues of grazers, browsers, frugivores and/or tree leaf feeders to explore the influence of 87Sr/86Sr variability with soil profile/root architecture on 87Sr/86Sr values of locally-feeding fauna.This research was funded by the Max Planck Society and a
Leverhulme Trust grant to KB (RPG-2017-410), with additional
support from Australian Research Council Discovery grants
DP0664144 and DP110101417 to RG. KJ thanks the ERC
ARCHEIS 803676, and IM thanks Australian Research Council
Discovery Early Career Award (DE160100703), for salary
support during production of this manuscript
Reply to Ben-Dor and Barkai: A low Zn isotope ratio is not equal to a low Zn content
However, we are afraid that there was a misunderstanding in the interpretation of our data. Ben-Dor and Barkai (2) wrote that "One explanation presented in the [our] paper was that Neandertals may have consumed body parts and animals that were relatively poor in zinc, like the liver or deer." This sentence is not reflecting our conclusions: We discussed Zn isotope ratios (i.e., 66Zn/64Zn ratio expressed as a ÎŽ66Zn value) and not Zn concentrations. To explain low ÎŽ66Zn values of the Neandertal tooth, we propose that Neandertals ate food items depleted in heavy Zn isotopes (and therefore enriched in light Zn isotopes), but those foods can have variable Zn contents, independent of the Zn isotope composition as such
Trophic position of Otodus megalodon and great white sharks through time revealed by zinc isotopes
Diet is a crucial trait of an animalâs lifestyle and ecology. The trophic level of an organism indicates its functional position within an ecosystem and holds significance for its ecology and evolution. Here, we demonstrate the use of zinc isotopes (ÎŽ66Zn) to geochemically assess the trophic level in diverse extant and extinct sharks, including the Neogene megatooth shark (Otodus megalodon) and the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). We reveal that dietary ÎŽ66Zn signatures are preserved in fossil shark tooth enameloid over deep geologic time and are robust recorders of each speciesâ trophic level. We observe significant ÎŽ66Zn differences among the Otodus and Carcharodon populations implying dietary shifts throughout the Neogene in both genera. Notably, Early Pliocene sympatric C. carcharias and O. megalodon appear to have occupied a similar mean trophic level, a finding that may hold clues to the extinction of the gigantic Neogene megatooth shark.publishedVersio
Early Holocene ritual complexity in South America: the archaeological record of Lapa do Santo (east-central Brazil)
Early Archaic human skeletal remains found in a burial context in Lapa do Santo in eastcentral Brazil provide a rare glimpse into the lives of hunter-gatherer communities in South America, including their rituals for dealing with the dead. These included the reduction of the body by means of mutilation, defleshing, tooth removal, exposure to fire and possibly cannibalism, followed by the secondary burial of the remains according to strict rules. In a later period, pits were filled with disarticulated bones of a single individual without signs of body manipulation, demonstrating that the region was inhabited by dynamic groups in constant transformation over a period of centuries
Recommended from our members
The ecology, subsistence and diet of ~45,000-year-old Homo sapiens at Ilsenhöhle in Ranis, Germany
Recent excavations at Ranis (Germany) identified an early dispersal of Homo sapiens into the higher latitudes of Europe by 45,000âyears ago. Here we integrate results from zooarchaeology, palaeoproteomics, sediment DNA and stable isotopes to characterize the ecology, subsistence and diet of these early H. sapiens. We assessed all bone remains (nâ=â1,754) from the 2016-2022 excavations through morphology (nâ=â1,218) or palaeoproteomics (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (nâ=â536) and species by proteome investigation (nâ=â212)). Dominant taxa include reindeer, cave bear, woolly rhinoceros and horse, indicating cold climatic conditions. Numerous carnivore modifications, alongside sparse cut-marked and burnt bones, illustrate a predominant use of the site by hibernating cave bears and denning hyaenas, coupled with a fluctuating human presence. Faunal diversity and high carnivore input were further supported by ancient mammalian DNA recovered from 26 sediment samples. Bulk collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from 52 animal and 10 human remains confirm a cold steppe/tundra setting and indicate a homogenous human diet based on large terrestrial mammals. This lower-density archaeological signature matches other Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician sites and is best explained by expedient visits of short duration by small, mobile groups of pioneer H. sapiens. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).
Stable isotopes show Homo sapiens dispersed into cold steppes ~45,000 years ago at Ilsenhöhle in Ranis, Germany
The spread of Homo sapiens into new habitats across Eurasia ~45,000âyears ago and the concurrent disappearance of Neanderthals represents a critical evolutionary turnover in our species' history. 'Transitional' technocomplexes, such as the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ), characterize the European record during this period but their makers and evolutionary significance have long remained unclear. New evidence from Ilsenhöhle in Ranis, Germany, now provides a secure connection of the LRJ to H. sapiens remains dated to ~45,000âyears ago, making it one of the earliest forays of our species to central Europe. Using many stable isotope records of climate produced from 16 serially sampled equid teeth spanning ~12,500âyears of LRJ and Upper Palaeolithic human occupation at Ranis, we review the ability of early humans to adapt to different climate and habitat conditions. Results show that cold climates prevailed across LRJ occupations, with a temperature decrease culminating in a pronounced cold excursion at ~45,000-43,000âcalâBP. Directly dated H. sapiens remains confirm that humans used the site even during this very cold phase. Together with recent evidence from the Initial Upper Palaeolithic, this demonstrates that humans operated in severe cold conditions during many distinct early dispersals into Europe and suggests pronounced adaptability. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).
- âŠ