signature=e28bc649dd9358b205ed58b92c715599,STRONTIUM ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FAUNA FROM T...

摘要：

Of all the isotopes that are currently analyzed in archaeological skeletal tissues,strontium isotopes are one of the most effective for characterizing prehistoric human and animal mobility.Strontium isotope analysis of incrementally developed dental tissues can be used to reveal patterns of movement in animals.In principle,the method works quite simple.Different rocks are characterized by distinct ratios of two isotopes of strontium,~(87)Sr and ~(86)Sr.As rocks were weathered into soils,the plants growing in those soils acquired the ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr ratio.Animals that ate the plants incorporated strontium into their skeleton,animal skeletal tissues,however?,often display a remarkable homogeneity in values within a given region,suggesting that they acquired strontium from a range of local sources and thus provide a "regional average" of bioavailable strontium.A large amount of circumstantial evidence suggests that tooth enamel retains an in vivo strontium isotopic signature,even in samples thousands or hundreds of thousands of years old.This means that tooth enamel is a more sensitive and reliable indicator of migration than bone tissue. Since different species occupy different regions with varying home ranges,the choice of local animal is best made specifically for the particular site,using both archaeological evidence and,if possible,measuring ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr in enamel samples from different species. The Taosi site is located at Xiangfen County,Shanxi Province.This site is a large settlement site of Longshan culture,and it is dated to be 4500 ～3900aB.P.According to zooarchaeology's study,five domestic animals such as dog,pig,goat,sheep and cattle were found from the site. The purpose of our study is to discuss the problem of strontium isotope analysis used to identify non-local individuals at Taosi site.Tooth Enamel samples from 14 domestic animals individuals were analyzed for strontium isotope ratio (~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr),by the thermal ionization mass spectrometry,including 5 pigs,5 sheeps/goats and 4 catties.Molar were sampled whenever possible in faunal species.As shown by the results,~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr ratios in enamel samples from domestic pigs revealed that the standard deviation for pigs (±0.000068)was less than half that of sheep (±0.000185)or cattle (±0.000109).This implies that the pigs' diet came from a more homogeneous area than the other animals.Since Neolithic times,pigs have lived locally around farming settlements,most likely eating human by-products such as rotting vegetables,crop wastes,table scraps and human and animal excrement.Domestic pigs may often be a good species to use to define the local ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr range for humans or other animals. The mean ~(85)Sr/~(86)Sr ratios of 5 pig enamel samples were 0.711179.According to the local strontium isotopes ratio range determined by the mean ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr ratios ±2 s.d.of 5 pig enamel samples(0.711314 ～ 0.711044),we found that 2 sheeps and 2 catties from The Taosi site fell well outside the local strontium isotopes ratio range and were considered to be non-local.The extreme distribution of the outliers suggests they came from different geographically locations.This shows that the people of the Taosi inside access? to meat resources in different ways.

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