Developing radiocarbon dating of bone amino acids: refining chronology and resolving dietary and reservoir effects.

在考古人类骨骼中幸存的蛋白质中的碳同位素来自于被吃掉的食物，因此它们记录了我们过去生存斗争的一个基本重要方面。一种名为放射性碳的同位素也使我们能够测量食物被食用的时间。当食物来自海洋、河流或湖泊时，就会出现一个有趣的复杂情况。在这种情况下，由于大气和被吞食的生物体之间的地化作用而产生的“放射性碳库”，放射性碳测年往往是错误的。我们已经开发出一种方法，能够剖析这种复杂的情况，并用它来解开测年中的错误，并估计这种水生资源被消耗的程度。我们的方法能够测量蛋白质中的个别成分(氨基酸)，并比较那些已知具有不同饮食来源的成分(即必需和非必需氨基酸)。在这项研究中，我们的目标是将实验室方法发展到完全健壮的状态，然后在一系列合适的应用程序上测试它，其中日期或饮食是有问题的。这种新方法将使人体遗骸的放射性碳测年更加准确，因为可以检测和避免放射性碳库的影响。同时，它还可以为淡水鱼的消费提供可以量化的确凿证据。我们在这里的项目为在欧洲进行这样的研究奠定了基础。最终目标是了解淡水鱼消费在大约8000年前席卷欧洲的养殖业转型中所起的作用。尽管河流对迁徙和定居很重要，但人们对继续捕鱼知之甚少，因为很难获得证据。似乎在一些地区捕鱼可能停止了(海洋捕鱼也是如此)，但在其他地区仍在继续。这一新的方法论将提高对新石器时代生活方式在整个欧洲扎根速度的年表和对生存的理解。我们从多瑙河流域研究得最好的地区开始。

The carbon isotopes in protein that survives in archaeological human bone come from the food that was eaten, and so they record a basic vital aspect of our past struggle for existence. One isotope, radiocarbon, also enables us to measure the time since the food was eaten. An interesting complication arises when the food is from the sea, or from rivers or lakes. In such cases, radiocarbon dates are often erroneously old due to 'radiocarbon reservoirs' arising from geochemical effects between the atmosphere and the organisms being eaten. We have developed a method which is able to dissect this complication, and use it to unravel both the error in the dating, and to estimate the extent to which such aquatic resources were being consumed. Our method is able to measure individual components (amino acids) in the protein, and compare those which are known to have different dietary origins (i.e. the essential and non-essential amino acids). In this research we aim to develop the laboratory method to a fully robust state, and then test it over a range of suitable applications, where dates or diets are in question. This new method will enable the radiocarbon dating of human remains to be made more accurately, since the effects of radiocarbon reservoirs can be detected and avoided. At the same time, it can provide definitive evidence, which can be quantified, for freshwater fish consumption. Our project here builds the foundation for such a study in Europe. The eventual goal is to understand the role of freshwater fish consumption during the transition to farming that swept across Europe some 8000 years ago. Rather little is known about the continuation of fishing, even though rivers were important for migration and settlement, because the evidence has been hard to obtain. It seems that fishing probably ceased in some areas (as also with sea-fishing) but continued in others. This new methodology will sharpen the chronology, and the understanding of subsistence, of how rapidly the Neolithic way of life took root across Europe. We make a start by addressing the best studied area of the Danube Basin.