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Isotopic Landscapes in Bioarchaeology

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Editors:
  1. Gisela Grupe

    1. Biozentrum, LMU München, Martinsried, Germany

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  2. George C. McGlynn

    1. Staatssammlung f. Anthropologie und Paläoanatomie, München, Germany

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  • Summarizes the outcome of interdisciplinary workshops based on a network of different sciences such as physical anthropology, archaeology, zooarchaeology, geology, mineralogy, and computer sciences with regard to the research potential in future bioarchaeological research
  • New methods of “fuzzy data mining” by the computer sciences are addressed for the first time
  • Based on the outcomes of international workshops sponsored by the German Science Foundation and the Centre of Advanced Studies at the Ludwig-Maximilian- University Munich

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. Unanswered Questions in the Evolution of Biomineralisation

    • Elizabeth M. Harper
    Pages 1-13

  3. Cremations: Anthropology, Mineralogy, Radiocarbon Dating

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15
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    2. Complexities of the Ancient Mortuary Rite of Cremation: An Osteoarchaeological Conundrum

      • Jacqueline I. McKinley
      Pages 17-41

    3. Bones, Rocks, and Flames: Mineralogy and Petrology of Slags and Cremated Bones from Ritual Immolation Sites in Tyrol

      • Peter Tropper
      Pages 43-67

    4. Radiocarbon Dating of Cremated Bones: An Overview

      • Mark Van Strydonck
      Pages 69-89

    5. Mineralogic Characterisation of Archaeological Bone

      • Wolfgang W. Schmahl, Balazs Kocsis, Anita Toncala, Gisela Grupe
      Pages 91-110

  4. Geological Aspects of Isotopic Landscapes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111
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    2. Assessing the “Local” 87Sr/86Sr Ratio for Humans

      • James H. Burton, Rachel Hahn
      Pages 113-121

    3. Determination of Geo-dependent Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr Isotopic Ratios for Archaeological Sites from the Inn Valley (Austria): A Model Calculation

      • Frank Söllner, Anita Toncala, Stefan Hölzl, Gisela Grupe
      Pages 123-140

    4. Provenancing Bronze: Exclusion, Inclusion, Uniqueness, and Occam’s Razor

      • Igor M. Villa
      Pages 141-154

  5. Ecological Aspects of Isotopic Landscapes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 155-155
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    2. Linking Oxygen Isotopes of Animal-Bone Phosphate with Altimetry: Results from Archaeological Finds from a Transect in the Alps

      • Christoph Mayr, Gisela Grupe, Anita Toncala, Christina M. Lihl
      Pages 157-172

    3. Oxygen and Hydrogen Stable Isotopes in Earth’s Hydrologic Cycle

      • Robert van Geldern, Johannes A. C. Barth
      Pages 173-187

    4. Toward an Integrated Isotope Zooarchaeology

      • Cheryl A. Makarewicz
      Pages 189-209

  6. Processing Multi-isotope Signatures

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 211-211
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    2. Assigning Elephant Ivory with Stable Isotopes

      • Stefan Ziegler, Bruno Streit, Dorrit E. Jacob
      Pages 213-220

    3. Towards Predicting Places of Origin from Isotopic Fingerprints: A Case Study on the Mobility of People in the Central European Alps

      • Markus Mauder, Eirini Ntoutsi, Peer Kröger, Hans-Peter Kriegel
      Pages 221-233

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 235-238
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Keywords

About this book

This work takes a critical look at the current concept of isotopic landscapes ("isoscapes") in bioarchaeology and its application in future research. It specifically addresses the research potential of cremated finds, a somewhat neglected bioarchaeological substrate, resulting primarily from the inherent osteological challenges and complex mineralogy associated with it. In addition, for the first time data mining methods are applied. The chapters are the outcome of an international workshop sponsored by the German Science Foundation and the Centre of Advanced Studies at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. Isotopic landscapes are indispensable tracers for the monitoring of the flow of matter through geo/ecological systems since they comprise existing temporally and spatially defined stable isotopic patterns found in geological and ecological samples. Analyses of stable isotopes of the elements nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, strontium, and lead are routinely utilized in bioarchaeologyto reconstruct biodiversity, palaeodiet, palaeoecology, palaeoclimate, migration and trade. The interpretive power of stable isotopic ratios depends not only on firm, testable hypotheses, but most importantly on the cooperative networking of scientists from both natural and social sciences. Application of multi-isotopic tracers generates isotopic patterns with multiple dimensions, which accurately characterize a find, but can only be interpreted by use of modern data mining methods.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Biozentrum, LMU München, Martinsried, Germany

    Gisela Grupe

  • Staatssammlung f. Anthropologie und Paläoanatomie, München, Germany

    George C. McGlynn

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Isotopic Landscapes in Bioarchaeology

  • Editors: Gisela Grupe, George C. McGlynn

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48339-8

  • Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg

  • eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-662-48338-1Published: 18 March 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-662-56917-7Published: 25 April 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-662-48339-8Published: 10 March 2016

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 238

  • Number of Illustrations: 46 b/w illustrations, 41 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Mineralogy, Zoology, Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery

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