Prehistoric Human Bone

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-IX

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2. Isotopic analysis

   1. Experimental Evidence for the Relationship of the Carbon Isotope Ratios of Whole Diet and Dietary Protein to Those of Bone Collagen and Carbonate

      • Stanley H. Ambrose, Lynette Norr

      Pages 1-37

   2. Age Differences and Population Variation in Stable Isotope Values from Ontario, Canada

      • M. Anne Katzenberg

      Pages 39-62

   3. Light, Stable Isotopes and the Subsistence Base of Formative Cultures at Valdivia, Ecuador

      • Nikolaas J. van der Merwe, Julia A. Lee-Thorp, J. Scott Raymond

      Pages 63-97

   4. Isotopic Evidence for Diets of Prehistoric Farmers in South Africa

      • Julia A. Lee-Thorp, Judith C. Sealy, Alan G. Morris

      Pages 99-120

   5. Effect of Diet Quality and Composition on the Isotopic Composition of Respiratory CO2, Bone Collagen, Bioapatite, and Soft Tissues

      • Larry L. Tieszen, Tim Fagre

      Pages 121-155

3. Element Analysis

   1. Ba/Ca as a Diagenetic Indicator for Evaluating Buried Bone Tissues: Advances in Tissue Selection, Reducing Contamination, and Data Evaluation

      • Jonathon E. Ericson

      Pages 157-171

   2. Reproducibility and Reliability of Trace Element Analysis in an Italian Medieval Necropolis

      • P. Francalacci, M. E. Subirá, S. Borgognini Tarli, R. Macchiarelli, A. Malgosa, A. Palmieri

      Pages 173-188

   3. Baselines and Variabilities of Major and Trace Elements in Bone

      • R. G. V. Hancock, M. D. Grynpas, K. Åkesson, K. B. Obrant, J. Turnquist, M. J. Kessler

      Pages 189-201

   4. Indicators for Seasonality in Trace Element Patterns

      • Bernd Herrmann

      Pages 203-215

   5. Dietary Inferences from Element Analyses of Bone

      • Joseph B. Lambert, Jane M. Weydert-Homeyer

      Pages 217-228

4. Molecular Analysis

   1. The Investigation of Lipids in Organic Residues by Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry: Applications to Palaeodietary Studies

      • P. H. Bethell, R. P. Evershed, L. J. Goad

      Pages 229-255

   2. Initial Stages of Bone Decomposition: Causes and Consequences

      • Gisela Grupe, Ute Dreses-Werringloer, Franz Parsche

      Pages 257-274

   3. The Other Molecules in Ancient Bone: Noncollagenous Proteins and DNA

      • Noreen Tuross

      Pages 275-292

5. Physical Analysis

   1. Abrasion as an Intrinsic Factor in Palaeodiet

      • Heinrich Newesely

      Pages 293-308

6. Back Matter

   Pages 309-313

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Locked up within human bone are tantalizing clues concerning the diets consumed by ancient peoples. On the one hand the amounts of certain elementsin bone (strontium, zinc) serve as measures of protein, fiber, and calcium intake. On the other hand, the ratios of carbon isotopes and of nitrogen isotopes provide information on questions of fish vs. meat, herbivore vs. carnivore, or (for animals) browser (shrubs) vs. grazer (grasses). Such information can provide a window on many aspects of prehistoric cultures and can supplement the nonskeletal archaeological record. In addition to these two approaches, the biochemical record in bone from protein and nucleic acids such as DNA serves as a source of nondietary information such as genetic relationships. This volume treats all three subjects.: elemental, isotopic, and biochemical. The foremost experts in the areas provide fundamental descriptions of the techniques, express their concerns over the limitations of the methods, and describe recent applications to archaeological studies.

• Archaeology
• Calcium
• DNA
• Knochen
• Knochenchemie
• Paläoanthropologie
• ancien diet
• anthropology
• archeology
• bone chemistrry
• molecular
• nucleic acid
• palaeoanthropology
• protein
• vorgeschichtliche Ernährung

• Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA

  Joseph B. Lambert

• Institut für Anthropologie und Humangenetik, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität, München, Germany

  Gisela Grupe

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