Isotopic Analysis to Understand Long Term Human Movement

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Researchers wish to understand mobility and interaction at a site from antiquity that offers a rare opportunity to scientifically study changes over time in a ritual space and the potential impact of pilgrimage on regional interactions and societal stability. This research aims to produce a significantly more detailed and nuanced understanding of interaction over time at this religious site to address topics such as from where the sacrificial animals and offerings were coming, and how this sanctuary may have inspired and impacted the later development of interregional communal cult places. Archaeology is well placed to provide answers to these questions through strontium isotope analysis and radiocarbon analysis of heavily burnt animal bones, as well as chemical and petrographical analyses of ceramics to systematically examine the diversity of potential origins of offerings left at the shrine. An important result will be the mapping of strontium isotopes across the broader region, by far the most extensive and systematic to be done in the area. This research will contribute valuable and versatile strontium isotope datasets reflecting a commitment to international scientific pursuits. The project is also committed to supporting female scientists. Women will carry out the analysis of the animal bones, the ceramics, and a significant portion of strontium isotope analysis. A team of researchers will analyze the strontium taken from a selection of heavily burnt animal bones from the sheep and goats sacrificed at the site. They will also do radiocarbon dating on these bones to obtain an absolute date. Strontium isotope analysis is widely applied in paleomobility and provenance studies because plants, animals, and people utilizing resources from geologic units of different ages have distinct strontium isotopic compositions. Because these different geologic units are spread over the landscape, it is possible to define the strontium signature of a particular location; therefore, the interaction of people and animals between geographically separate sites can be constrained. In addition, the chemical and petrographical analyses on a selection of ceramics from the site will shed light on their origins, thus contributing to the reconstruction of the sanctuary’s network and potential fluctuations through time. The resulting products will include the creation of a strontium isotope map of the larger region, and a geological database that characterizes regional clay sources. Pilgrimage has often been studied using primarily textual evidence, but archaeological evidence is being incorporated more and more, allowing one to understand these journeys in a more nuanced way. Some results which may be gleaned about pilgrimage from the archaeology include evidence for affirmation of social identities, participation in economic exchange, and incorporation of feasting or other performative aspects, indicating behavior beyond the strictly religious sphere. The proposed project will be highly interdisciplinary in nature, with an aim of answering fundamental humanistic questions about the ancient past using archaeometric and geological techniques.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.