Collaborative Research: Assessing the Impact of Holocene Climate Change on Bioavailable Strontium Isotope Ratios

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Dr. Antonio Simonetti, of the University of Notre Dame, along with Dr. Michele Buzon, of Purdue University, will investigate the impact of climate change on the isotopic signature of bioavailable strontium during the last ~4,000 years within the Nile River Valley. This project builds on previous research collaborations by both principal investigators that have established immigration patterns and cultural interactions in ancient civilizations for Egyptian and Nubian sites within the Nile River Valley based primarily on strontium isotope signatures of archaeological faunal (soil, animal, plant) and human samples. The results from this first time, detailed investigation will accurately trace any temporal change in the regional distribution of bioavailable strontium driven by a drying climate within the Nile River Valley. This approach will prove extremely useful for other regions around the globe where recent climatic conditions have changed significantly during the archaeological period of interest. Strontium isotopes in soil and living and fossil materials vary on a regional basis and using isotope ratios scientists can trace how individual during their lifetimes moved between regions. This project will provide insight into whether environmental factors can change ratios in a single area. This project will include training of graduate students in state-of-the-art isotope techniques, and they will also be directly involved in analyzing and interpreting results. This study will include participation of the American Sudanese Archaeological Research Center (AmSARC), which has a mission to encourage American and Sudanese archaeological research and collaboration in Sudan.Drs. Simonetti and Buzon will expand coverage of samples investigated by determining the strontium, lead, and neodymium isotope signatures of faunal, soil, plant and human samples from combined 20 sites along the Nile River occupied over various time periods, and compare these results to those from their present-day counterparts. Samples will also be obtained from collections of pertinent museums worldwide. Assessing the bioavailable strontium for the Nile River Valley will also rely on synthesizing existing strontium isotope data obtained by both PIs from ~250 specimens, which consist of both archaeological human and faunal samples investigated from Egyptian (Memphis, Qurneh) and Nubian (Shellal, C-Group, Pharaonic, Amara West, Tombos, Kerma) sites. These combined results will help to characterize the isotope variability and better understand human mobility in this region, which is rich with sociopolitical transitions and contact between groups. The results obtained from this project will help elucidate any input or influence of Holocene climate change within the Nile River Valley for the past ~4,000 years. By comparing archaeological or paleo-strontium isotope signatures of faunal samples to their present-day counterparts, our study will provide a better understanding of aeolian (wind-driven) contribution, if any, within the Nile River Valley. The proposed research will have major implications for archaeologists conducting isotope-based investigations of ancient migrations around the globe since climate change is a phenomenon that has occurred throughout Earth's history. For the Nile River Valley, this has involved a drying of the African Humid Period, which have taken place in other regions of our planet.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.