Abstract
Archaeology is a well-established science, with its own methods and practices. It can and often does make use of isotopes to unlock secrets of past societies and we will consider a few specific examples.
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Further Reading
Further Reading
There are a few books and many journal articles on the topic of isotopes in archaeometry; here is a brief selection:
The Archaeology of Human Bones, S. Mays, Routledge, 2010, ISBN 978-113-697177-8. The relevant part is Chap. 10, Stable isotope analysis.
Radiocarbon Dating, Second Edition: An Archaeological Perspective, R.E. Taylor and O. Bar-Yosef, Routledge, 2016, ISBN 978-131-542120-9.
Sharp, D.Z., Atudorei, V., Panarello, H.O., Fernandez, J., and Douthitt, C. (2003) Hydrogen isotope systematics of hair: archeological and forensic applications. Journal of Archaeological Science 30, 1709–1716.
White, C.D., Longstaffe, F.J., and Law, K.R. (1999) Seasonal stability and variation in diet as reflected in human mummy tissues from the Kharga Oasis and the Nile Valley. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 147, 209–222.
Macko, A.A., Engel, M.H., Andrusevich, V., Lubec, G., O’Connell, T.C., and Hedges, R.E.M. (1999) Documenting the diet in ancient human populations through stable isotope analysis of hair. Philosophical transactions: Biological Sciences, 354, 65–75.
Questions
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What is archaeometry and what are its various applications?
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What material and what isotopes can be used to study an ancient population’s migration?
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What is carbon dating based on? What are its limitations?
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How can we study the diet and food sources of an ancient population? What isotopes would we use and in what material?
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What methods are there to calculate soil erosion?
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Alexandre, P. (2020). Archaeometry and Society. In: Isotopes and the Natural Environment. Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33652-3_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33652-3_8
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