Monitoring Prehistoric Human Mobility: Isotopic and Elemental Characterization of Skeletal Tissues

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，道格拉斯·普莱斯和詹姆斯·伯顿将进行为期三年的实验室研究。他们的目标是发展锶同位素分析，作为解决重大人类学问题的工具。锶有两种同位素，它们以不同的比例存在于土壤、植物和动物中。这一比率最终取决于下伏基岩中每种同位素的相对含量，由于这一比例因地区而异，因此比率显示了地理格局。这些比例也反映在人类的牙齿和骨骼上，如果一个人生活在一个地区，吃当地的食物，那么锶的相对含量就会产生地区印记。同位素比率分析是一种潜在的有价值的工具，因为牙齿和骨骼系统的不同部分的比率以不同的速度变化，从而提供个体生命中不同时期的位置信息。例如，牙齿没有周转，比率是在形成时设定的。在人的一生中，骨骼中的锶会被替换，但其速率因骨骼元素而异。同样，恒牙也是在不同时期形成的。因此，从理论上讲，追踪一个人一生中主要时期的运动是可能的，并确定，例如，骨骼人口中出生在当地的比例是多少，移民的比例是多少。移民、居住和婚姻模式都可以用这种方法来检验。Drs。普莱斯和伯顿将使用三个控制良好的考古骨骼种群来改进和发展这项技术。他们将建立种群内在的同位素变异性，并将其与地质多样性联系起来。他们将制定标准，为移民个人建立重要的阈值。案例研究来自中欧新石器时代晚期（贝尔烧杯人群），中美洲（墨西哥高地的经典时期）和冰岛。他们还将研究利用骨骼组织中的铅和碱土丰度来实现同样目标的可能性。这项研究是非常重要的，因为这些工具，如果改进，将在广泛的考古情况下有用。

With National Science Foundation support, Drs. Douglas Price and James Burton will conduct three years of laboratory based research. Their goal is to develop strontium isotope analysis as a tool to address significant anthropological questions. Strontium has two isotopes and these are present in soils, plants and animals in varying ratios. This ratio is ultimately determined by the relative amounts of each isotope in underlying bedrock and because this varies by region, ratios show geographic patterning. These ratios are also reflected in human tooth and bone and if an individual lives their life in one area and eats local foods the relative amounts of strontium will bear a regional imprint. Isotope ratio analysis is a potentially valuable tool because ratios in different parts of the dental and skeletal system turn over at different rates and thus provide locational information for different times in an individual's life. Teeth for example have no turnover and the ratio is set at the time of formation. In bones strontium is replaced during an individual's lifetime but the rate varies by skeletal element. Likewise, permanent teeth are formed at different times. Thus it is theoretically possible to trace an individual's movement over major spans of their life and to determine, for example what percentage of a skeletal population were born locally and what percentage were immigrants. Migration, residence and marriage patterns can be examined in this way. Drs. Price and Burton will use three well controlled archaeological skeletal populations to refine and develop the technique. They will establish intrinsic isotopic variability in populations and relate this to geological diversity. They will develop criteria for establishing significant threshold values for migrant individuals. The case studies come from the late Neolithic of Central Europe (Bell Beaker populations), Mesoamerica (the Classic period of Highland Mexico) and Iceland. They will also examine the possibility of using lead and alkaline-earth abundances in skeletal tissues to pursue this same goal. This research is extremely important because these tools, if refined, will be useful in a wide range of archaeological situations.