Diet and species-specific oxygen isotope relationship and isotope spacing between structural carbonate and phosphate in archaeological mammalian bones

Stable oxygen isotopes of bone structural carbonate (δ 18 O carbonate ) and phosphate (δ 18 O phosphate ) are frequently used for paleoclimatological and paleoenvironmental studies. In several studies, the more conveniently measureable δ 18 O carbonate values are measured, and δ 18 O phosphate value...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeological and anthropological sciences 2019-06, Vol.11 (6), p.2467-2487
Main Authors: Göhring, Andrea, von Carnap-Bornheim, Claus, Hilberg, Volker, Mayr, Christoph, Grupe, Gisela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Archaeology
Bones
Chemistry/Food Science
Diet
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Geography
Isotopes
Life Sciences
Linear analysis
Mammals
Original Paper
Oxygen
Oxygen isotopes
Paleoclimate science
Physiology
Prone
Spacing
Values
Variability
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Summary:Stable oxygen isotopes of bone structural carbonate (δ 18 O carbonate ) and phosphate (δ 18 O phosphate ) are frequently used for paleoclimatological and paleoenvironmental studies. In several studies, the more conveniently measureable δ 18 O carbonate values are measured, and δ 18 O phosphate values are approximated according to published regressions. We studied a variety of individuals ( n  = 101) of different wild and domesticated mammal species ( n  = 19) from the Viking Haithabu and medieval Schleswig sites in Northern Germany and demonstrated that a generalized relationship between δ 18 O carbonate and δ 18 O phosphate with a fixed value for oxygen isotope spacing (Δδ 18 O) is potentially error-prone. The Δδ 18 O values of our data set differ considerably from the commonly applied, fixed value of about 9 ‰ with values ranging from 3.8 to 8.1 ‰ ( μ  = 6.1 ‰ ± 0.9 ‰). Statistically significant differences in the Δδ 18 O values and marked differences in linear models established for the relationship between δ 18 O carbonate and δ 18 O phosphate are related to species-specific diet and physiology. Therefore, such species-specific particularities must not be neglected. We conclude that this variability does no longer permit an approximation of oxygen isotope values of bone phosphate from carbonate, because δ 18 O phosphate values approximated in such a way are highly error-prone. Parallel analyses of both δ 18 O carbonate and δ 18 O phosphate values are therefore indispensable.
ISSN:1866-9557
1866-9565
DOI:10.1007/s12520-018-0704-9