Application of sulphur isotope ratios to examine weaning patterns and freshwater fish consumption in Roman Oxfordshire, UK

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Volumn 75, Issue 17, 2011, Pages 4963-4977

  Nehlich, Olaf ^a   Fuller, Benjamin T ^a,b   Jay, Mandy ^a,c,d   Mora, Alice ^a   Nicholson, Rebecca A ^e   Smith, Colin I ^a,f   Richards, Michael P ^a,g  

^a MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY   (Germany)

^b UNIVERSITY OF LEUVEN   (Belgium)

^c DURHAM UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^d UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD   (United Kingdom)

^e Oxford Archaeology   (United Kingdom)

^f LA TROBE UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^g UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE; CARBON ISOTOPE RATIO; DIET; FAUNA; FISH; HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; HOMINID; ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION; ISOTOPIC RATIO; NITROGEN ISOTOPE; ROMAN ERA; SKELETAL REMAINS; SULFUR ISOTOPE; WEANING;

ENGLAND; OXFORDSHIRE; THAMES RIVER [ENGLAND]; UNITED KINGDOM;

ANIMALIA;

EID: 79961168066     PISSN: 00167037     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2011.06.009     Document Type: Article

References (95)

1. Agrawal M. Plant responses to atmospheric sulphur. Sulphur in Plants 2003, 279-293. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. Y.P. Abrol, A. Ahmad (Eds.).
2. Arkell W.J. The Geology of Oxford 1947, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
3. Barclay A and Halpin C (1997) Excavations at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire. In The Neolithic and Bronze Age Monument Complex. Oxford Archaeological Unit, Oxford. pp. 1-7.
4. Barnes C., Jennings S. Effect of temperature, ration, body size and age on sulphur isotope fractionation in fish. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2007, 21:1461-1467.
5. Bentley R.A. Strontium isotopes from the earth to the archaeological skeleton: a review. J. Archaeol. Method Theory 2006, 13:135-187.
6. Bridgland D.R. Quaternary of the Thames 1994, Chapman & Hall, London.
7. Bridgland D.R., D'Olier B. The Pleistocene evolution of the Thames and Rhine drainage systems in the southern North Sea Basin. Island Britain: a Quaternary Perspective 1995, 27-45. Geological Society Special Publication. R.C. Preece (Ed.).
8. Brown T., Nelson D., Vogel J., Southon J. Improved collagen extraction by modified Longin method. Radiocarbon 1988, 30:171-177.
9. Chambers R.A. The late- and sub-Roman cemetery at Queenford Farm, Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxon. Oxoniensia 1987, 54:35-69.
10. Chambers R. and McAdam E. (2007) Excavations at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire, 1983-5. Vol. 2: The Romano-Britissh Cemetery and ANglo-Saxon Settlement. Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph 25. Oxford Archaeology, Oxford.
11. Chenery C., Müldner G., Evans J., Eckardt H., Lewis M. Strontium and stable isotope evidence for diet and mobility in Roman Gloucester, UK. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2010, 37:150-163.
12. Chukhrov F.V., Ermilova L.P., Churikov V.S., Nosik L.P. The isotopic composition of plant sulfur. Org. Geochem. 1980, 2:69-75.
13. Claypool G.E., Holser W.T., Kaplan I.R., Sakai H., Zak I. The age curves of sulfur and oxygen isotopes in marine sulfate and their mutual interpretation. Chem. Geol. 1980, 28:199-260.
14. Cool H.E.M. Eating and Drinking in Roman Britain 2006, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
15. 4 sources in the Arno river catchment, northern Tuscany, Italy: a chemical and isotopic reconnaissance. Appl. Geochem. 2002, 17:79-92.
16. Coulson J.P., Bottrell S.H., Lee J.A. Recreating atmospheric sulphur deposition histories from peat stratigraphy: diagenetic conditions required for signal preservation and reconstruction of past sulphur deposition in the Derbyshire Peak District, UK. Chem. Geol. 2005, 218:223-248.
17. Craig O.E., Ross R., Andersen S.H., Milner N., Bailey G.N. Focus: sulphur isotope variation in archaeological marine fauna from northern Europe. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2006, 33:1642-1646.
18. Craig O.E., Biazzo M., O'Connell T.C., Garnsey P., Martinez-Labarga C., Lelli R., Salvadei L., Tartaglia G., Nava A., Renò L., Fiammenghi A., Rickards O., Bondioli L. Stable isotopic evidence for diet at the Imperial Roman coastal site of Velia (1st and 2nd Centuries AD) in Southern Italy. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 2009, 139:572-583.
19. DeNiro M.J. Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction. Nature 1985, 317:806-809.
20. Eastoe J.E. The amino acid composition of mammalian collagen and gelatin. Biochem. J. 1955, 61:589-600.
21. Eastoe J.E. Composition of collagen and allied proteins. Treatise on Collagen 1967, 1-72. Academic Press, London. G.N. Ramachandran (Ed.).
22. Eriksson G., Linderholm A., Fornander E., Kanstrup M., Schoultz P., Olofsson H., Lidén K. Same island, different diet: cultural evolution of food practice on Öland, Sweden, from the Mesolithic to the Roman Period. J. Anthropol. Archaeol. 2008, 27:520-543.
23. Fisher I.S.J. Pyrite formation in bioturbated clays from the Jurassic of Britain. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 1986, 50:517-523.
24. Fogel M. L., Tuross N., Owsley D. W. (1989) Nitrogen isotope tracers of human lactation in modern and archaeological populations. Annual Report of the Director of the Geophysical Laboratory. Carnegie Institution, Washington, 1988-1989, pp. 111-117.
25. Fornander E., Eriksson G., Liden K. Wild at heart: approaching pitted ware identity, economy and cosmology through stable isotopes in skeletal material from the Neolithic site Korsnäs in Eastern Central Sweden. J. Anthropol. Archaeol. 2008, 27:281-297.
26. Fuller B.T., Richards M.P., Mays S.A. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope variations in tooth dentine serial sections from Wharram Percy. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2003, 30:1673-1684.
27. 15N: why you're not what you eat during pregnancy. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2004, 18:2889-2896.
28. 15N: why you're not what you eat during nutritional stress. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2005, 19:2497-2506.
29. Fuller B.T., Molleson T.I., Harris D.A., Gilmour L.T., Hedges R.E.M. Isotopic evidence for breastfeeding and possible adult dietary differences from late/sub-Roman Britain. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 2006, 129:45-54.
30. Fuller B.T., Fuller J.L., Harris D.A., Hedges R.E.M. Detection of breastfeeding and weaning in modern human infants with carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 2006, 129:279-293.
31. Gebauer G., Giesemann A., Schulze E., Jäger H. Isotope ratios and concentrations of sulfur and nitrogen in needles and soils of Picea abies stands as influenced by atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen compounds. Plant Soil 1994, 164:267-281.
32. Geyh M.A. Bomb radiocarbon dating of animal tissue and hair. Radiocarbon 2001, 43:723-730.
33. Gibbard P.L., Rose J., Bridgland D.R. The history of the great Northwest European rivers during the past three million years [and discussion]. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci. 1988, 318:559-602.
34. Giesemann A.J.H., Norman A.L., Krouse H.R., Brand W.A. On-line sulfur-isotope determination using an elemental analyzer coupled to a mass spectrometer. Anal. Chem. 1994, 66:2816-2819.
35. Grinenko V.A., Krouse H.R. Isotope data on the nature of riverine sulfates. Mitteilungen des Geologisch-Paläontologischen Institutes 1992, 72:9-18.
36. Habicht K.S., Canfield D.E. Sulfur isotope fractionation during bacterial sulfate reduction in organic-rich sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 1997, 61:5351-5361.
37. Harman M., Lambrick G., Miles D., Rowley T. Roman burials around Dorchester-on-Thames. Oxoniensia 1978, XLIII:1-16.
38. Hawkesford M.J., de Kok L.J. Managing sulphur metabolism in plants. Plant, Cell Environ. 2006, 29:382-395.
39. Hedges R.E.M., Clement J.G., Thomas C.D.L., O'Connell T.C. Collagen turnover in the adult femoral mid-shaft: modeled from anthropogenic radiocarbon tracer measurements. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 2007, 133:808-816.
40. Hesslein R.H., Capel M.J., Fox D.E., Hallard K.A. Stable isotopes of sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen as indicator of trophic level and fish migration in the Lower Mackenzie River Basin, Canada. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1991, 48:2258-2265.
41. Hitchon B., Krouse H.R. Hydrogeochemistry of the surface waters of the Mackenzie River drainage basin, Canada - III. Stable isotopes of oxygen, carbon and sulphur. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 1972, 36:1337-1357.
42. Hobson K.A. Tracing origins and migration of wildlife using stable isotopes: a review. Oecologia 1999, 120:314-326.
43. Hu Y., Shang H., Tong H., Nehlich O., Liu W., Zhao C., Yu J., Wang C., Trinkaus E., Richards M.P. Stable isotope dietary analysis of the Tianyuan 1 early modern human. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009, 106:10971-10974.
44. Ivanov M.V. The sulphur cycle in continental reservoirs. The Global Biogeochemical Sulphur Cycle - Scope 1983, vol. 39:297-356. Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment.
45. Jarvie H.P., Lycett E., Neal C., Love A. Patterns in nutrient concentrations and biological quality indices across the upper Thames river basin, UK. Sci. Total Environ. 2002, 282-283:263-294.
46. Jeans C.V. Clay mineralogy of the Jurassic strata of the British Isles. Clay Mineral. 2006, 41:187-307.
47. Jensen M.L., Nakai N. Sources and isotopic composition of atmospheric sulfur. Science 1961, 134:2102-2104.
48. Katzenberg M.A., Herring D.A., Saunders S.R. Weaning and infant mortality: evaluating the skeletal evidence. Yearbook Phys. Anthropol. 1996, 39:177-199.
49. Kester C.L., Rye R.O., Johnson C.A., Schwartz C., Holmes C. On-line sulfur isotope analysis of organic material by direct combustion. Isotopes Environ. Health Stud. 2001, 37:53-65.
50. Kinniburgh D.G., Beckett P.H.T. Geochemical mapping in Oxfordshire: a comparison of stream sediment and soil sampling. J. Soil Sci. 1983, 34:183-203.
51. Knodel J., Kintner H. The impact of breastfeeding patterns on the biometric analysis of infant mortality. Demography 1977, 14:391-409.
52. Krouse H.R. Sulphur isotope abundance elucidate uptake of atmospheric sulphur emissions by vegetation. Nature 1977, 265:45-46.
53. Krouse H.R., Levinson A.A. Geographical trends of carbon and sulphur isotope abundances in human kidney stones. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 1984, 48:187-191.
54. Krouse H.R., Mayer B. Sulphur and oxygen isotopes in sulphate. Environmental Tracers in Subsurface Hydrology 2000, 195-231. Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht. P.G. Cook, A.L. Herczeg (Eds.).
55. Krouse R.H. Sulfur isotope studies of the pedosphere and biosphere. Stable Isotopes in Ecological Research 1989, 424-444. Springer, New York. P. Rundel, J. Ehleringer, K. Nagy (Eds.).
56. Leach B.F., Quinn C.J., Lyon G.L. A stochastic approach to the reconstruction of prehistoric human diet in the Pacific region from bone isotope signatures. Tuhinga: Records of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 1996, 8:1-54.
57. Leakey C.D., Attrill M.J., Jennings S., Fitzsimons M.F. Stable isotopes in juvenile marine fishes and their invertebrate prey from the Thames Estuary, UK, and adjacent coastal regions. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 2008, 77:513-522.
58. Linderholm A., Andersson K., Mörth C., Grundberg L., Harding B., Liden K. An early Christian cemetery at Björned in northern Sweden. Fornvännen 2008, 103:176-189.
59. Linderholm A., Jonson C.H., Svensk O., Liden K. Diet and status in Birka: stable isotopes and grave goods compared. Antiquity 2008, 82:446-461.
60. Longin R. New method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating. Nature 1971, 230:241-242.
61. McArdle N., Liss P., Dennis P. An isotopic study of atmospheric sulphur at three sites in Wales and at Mace Head - Eire. J. Geophys. Res. 1998, 103:31079-31094.
62. Mekhtieva V.L., Gavrilov E.Y., Pankina R.G. Sulfur isotopic composition in land plants. Geochem. Int. 1976, 13:85-88.
63. Moncaster S.J., Bottrell S.H., Tellam J.H., Lloyd J.W., Konhauser K.O. Migration and attenuation of agrochemical pollutants: insights from isotopic analysis of groundwater sulphate. J. Contam. Hydrol. 2000, 43:147-163.
64. Mudge D.C. Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Lower Inferior Oolite of the Cotswolds. J. Geol. Soc. 1978, 135:611-627.
65. Müldner G., Richards M.P. Fast or feast: reconstructing diet in later medieval England by stable isotope analysis. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2005, 32:39-48.
66. Müldner G., Richards M.P. Stable isotope evidence for 1,500 years of human diet at the city of York, UK. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 2007, 133:682-697.
67. Nehlich O., Richards M.P. Establishing collagen quality criteria for sulphur isotope analysis of archaeological bone collagen. Archaeol. Anthropol. Sci. 2009, 1:59-75.
68. Nehlich O., Boric D., Stefanovic S., Richards M.P. Sulphur isotope evidence for freshwater fish consumption: a case study from the Danube Gorges, SE Europe. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2010, 37:1131-1139.
69. Neumann R.E. The amino acid composition of gelatins, collagens and elastins from different sources. Arch. Biochem. 1949, 24:289-298.
70. Nielsen H., Pilot J., Grinenko L.N., Grinenko V.A., Lein A.Y., Smith J.W., Pankina R.G. Lithospheric sources of sulphur. Stable Isotopes: Natural and Anthropogenic Sulphur in the Environment 1991, 65-132. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. H.R. Krouse, V.A. Grinenko (Eds.).
71. Noji M., Saito K. Sulphur amino acids: biosynthesis of cysteine and methionine. Sulphur in Plants 2003, 135-144. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. Y.P. Abrol, A. Ahmad (Eds.).
72. Norton A., Booth P., Moxham J. Extension areas 1 and 2, Tubney Wood Quarry, Tubney, Oxfordshire, Archaeological Testpitting Report, Post-excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design 2007, Oxford Archaeological Unit Ltd., Oxford.
73. Paytan A., Kastner M., Campbell D., Thiemens M.H. Sulfur isotopic composition of Cenozoic seawater sulfate. Science 1998, 282:1459-1462.
74. Peterson B.J., Fry B. Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 1987, 18:293-320.
75. Peterson B.J., Howarth R.W., Garritt R.H. Multiple stable isotopes used to trace the flow of organic matter in estuarine food webs. Science 1985, 227:1361-1363.
76. Privat K.L., O'Connell T.C., Hedges R.E.M. The distinction between freshwater- and terrestrial-based diets: methodological concerns and archaeological applications of sulphur stable isotope analysis. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2007, 34:1197-1204.
77. Prowse T.L., Schwarcz H.P., Saunders S., Macchiarelli R., Bondioli L. Isotopic paleodiet studies of skeletons from the Imperial Roman-age cemetery of Isola Sacra, Rome, Italy. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2004, 31:259-272.
78. Rees C.E., Jenkins W.J., Monster J. The sulphur isotopic composition of ocean water sulphate. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 1978, 42:377-381.
79. Richards M.P., Hedges R.E.M. Stable isotope evidence for similarities in the types of marine foods used by Late Mesolithic humans at sites along the Atlantic Coast of Europe. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1999, 26:717-722.
80. Richards M.P., Fuller B.T., Hedges R.E.M. Sulphur isotopic variation in ancient bone collagen from Europe: implications for human palaeodiet, residence mobility, and modern pollutant studies. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2001, 191:185-190.
81. Richards M.P., Fuller B.T., Sponheimer M., Robinson T., Ayliffe L. Sulphur isotopes in palaeodietary studies: a review and results from a controlled feeding experiment. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 2003, 13:37-45.
82. Rutgers L.V., van Strydonck M., Boudin M., van der Linde C. Stable isotope data from the early Christian catacombs of ancient Rome: new insights into the dietary habits of Rome's early Christians. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:1127-1134.
83. Scherer H.W. Sulfur in soils. J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2009, 172:326-335.
84. Schwarcz H.P., Burnie S.W. Influence of sedimentary environments on sulfur isotope ratios in clastic rocks: a review. Miner. Deposita 1973, 8:264-277.
85. 14C in humans. Radiocarbon Dating 1979, 324-341. University of California Press, Berkeley. R. Berger, H.E. Suess (Eds.).
86. 34S-Value measurements in food origin assignments and sulfur isotope fractionations in plants and animals. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2010, 58:3139-3146.
87. Thode H.G. Sulphur isotopes in nature and the environment. Stable Isotopes: Natural and Anthropogenic Sulphur in the Environment 1991, 1-26. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. H.R. Krouse, V.A. Grinenko (Eds.).
88. Thorp J.H., Delong M.D., Greenwood K.S., Casper A.F. Isotopic analysis of three food web theories in constricted and floodplain regions of a Large River. Oecologia 1998, 117:551-563.
89. Trust B.A., Fry B. Stable sulphur isotopes in plants: a review. Plant, Cell Environ. 1992, 15:1105-1110.
90. van Klinken G. Bone collagen quality indicators for palaeodietary and radiocarbon measurement. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1999, 26:687-695.
91. 34S analysis. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:2024-2028.
92. Watts A.B., McKerrow W.S., Fielding E. Lithospheric flexure, uplift, and landscape evolution in South-Central England. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 2000, 157:1169-1177.
93. Watts A.B., McKerrow W.S., Richards K. Localized Quaternary uplift of South-Central England. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 2005, 162:13-24.
94. 14C dating with the bomb peak. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. B 2000, 172:944-950.
95. Zhao F., McGrath S. Extractable sulphate and organic sulphur in soils and their availability to plants. Plant Soil 1994, 164:243-250.