Isotopes in Archeology: Perspectives on Post-Mortem Alteration and Climate Change

Isotopic investigations focused on determining the mobility and provenance of ancient human civilizations and sourcing of archeological artifacts continue to gain prominence in archeology. Most studies focus on the premise that the geographic variation in isotope systems of interest (e.g., Sr, Pb, Nd, O) in the natural environment is recorded in both human hard tissues of local individuals and raw materials sourced for artifacts within the same region. The introduction of multi-collection–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) and laser ablation systems are techniques that consume smaller sample sizes compared to previous mass spectrometric approaches due to their higher ionization efficiency and increased sensitivity. This development has facilitated the isotopic measurement of trace elements present at low abundances (e.g., Pb, Nd, <1-to-low ppm range) particularly in human tooth enamel. Accurate interpretation of any isotope ratio measurement for the proveniencing of such low-abundance samples requires the adequate evaluation of post-mortem diagenetic alteration. A synopsis of practices currently in use for identifying post-mortem alteration in human archeological samples is discussed here. Post-mortem shifts in radiogenic isotope signatures resulting from secondary alteration are distinct from those potentially related to the impact of climate change on the bioavailable budgets for these elements. This topic is of interest to the archeological community and discussed here in the context of Holocene-aged samples from burial sites within the Nile River Valley System, and preferred dust source areas from the neighboring Sahara Desert.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Géosciences

• Publication date

  2025-08-07

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/geosciences15080307
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Trace element concentrations as proxies for diagenetic alteration in the African archaeofaunal record: Implications for isotope analysis

  2024cited by this paper
• The role of post-mortem alteration in tooth enamel revisited: A combined strontium isotope and geochemical evaluation

  2024cited by this paper
• Microelement strontium and human health: comprehensive analysis of the role in inflammation and non-communicable diseases (NCDs)

  2024cited by this paper
• Assessing the Impact of Holocene Climate Change on Bioavailable Strontium Within the Nile River Valley

  2023cited by this paper
• Isotopic Proveniencing and Mobility: The Current State of Research

  2023cited by this paper
• Characterization of Saharan and Sahelian dust sources based on geochemical and radiogenic isotope signatures

  2022cited by this paper
• Astronomically controlled aridity in the Sahara since at least 11 million years ago

  2022cited by this paper
• Association of Urinary Strontium with Cardiovascular Disease Among the US Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

  2022cited by this paper
• Dust sources in Westernmost Asia have a different geochemical fingerprint to those in the Sahara

  2022cited by this paper
• Three North African dust source areas and their geochemical fingerprint

  2021cited by this paper
• Lead Isotope Analysis of Geological Native Copper: Implications for Archaeological Provenance Research in the North American Arctic and Subarctic

  2021cited by this paper
• Anti-Inflammatory and Prochondrogenic In Situ-Formed Injectable Hydrogel Crosslinked by Strontium-Doped Bioglass for Cartilage Regeneration.

  2021cited by this paper
• Wild and Domestic Cattle in the Ancient Nile Valley: Marks of Ecological Change

  2021cited by this paper
• Nile River clayey materials in Sudan: Chemical and isotope analysis as reference data for ancient pottery provenance studies

  2021cited by this paper
• Multi-isotopic study of diet and mobility in the northeastern Nile Delta

  2021cited by this paper
• Trace element and Pb and Sr isotope investigation of tooth enamel from archaeological remains at El-Kurru, Sudan: Evaluating the role of groundwater-related diagenetic alteration

  2021cited by this paper
• Use of non-traditional heavy stable isotopes in archaeological research

  2021cited by this paper
• Mummified baboons reveal the far reach of early Egyptian mariners

  2020cited by this paper
• The New Kingdom Population on Sai Island: Application of Sr Isotopes to Investigate Cultural Entanglement in Ancient Nubia

  2020cited by this paper
• Strontium Uptake and Intra-Population 87Sr/86Sr Variability of Bones and Teeth—Controlled Feeding Experiments With Rodents (Rattus norvegicus, Cavia porcellus)

  2020cited by this paper
• Who were the Hyksos? Challenging traditional narratives using strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis of human remains from ancient Egypt

  2020cited by this paper
• Biologically available Pb: A method for ancient human sourcing using Pb isotopes from prehistoric animal tooth enamel

  2020cited by this paper
• The Elbrus (Caucasus, Russia) ice core record – Part 2: history of desert dust deposition

  2019cited by this paper
• The concurrent decline of soil lead and children’s blood lead in New Orleans

  2019cited by this paper
• High-resolution trace element distributions and models of trace element diffusion in enamel of Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic human molars from the Rioja Alavesa region (north-central Spain) help to separate biogenic from diagenetic trends

  2019cited by this paper
• Lead and Arsenic in Shed Deciduous Teeth of Children Living Near a Lead-Acid Battery Smelter.

  2019cited by this paper
• Evaluation of neodymium isotope analysis of human dental enamel as a provenance indicator using 1013 Ω amplifiers (TIMS)

  2019cited by this paper
• Intraregional 87Sr/86Sr variation in Nubia: New insights from the Third Cataract

  2019cited by this paper
• Evaluating the relative importance of northern African mineral dust sources using remote sensing

  2019cited by this paper
• The CAMS reanalysis of atmospheric composition

  2018cited by this paper
• Trace elements in modern and archaeological human teeth: Implications for human metal exposure and enamel diagenetic changes

  2018cited by this paper
• Multi-element and lead isotope characterization of early nineteenth century pottery sherds from Native American and Euro-American sites

  2018cited by this paper
• TIMS analysis of neodymium isotopes in human tooth enamel using 1013 Ω amplifiers

  2017cited by this paper
• Evaluation of Metal Ion Concentration in Hard Tissues of Teeth in Residents of Central Poland

  2017cited by this paper
• Mosaic tesserae from Italy and the production of Mediterranean coloured glass (4th century BCE–4th century CE). Part II: Isotopic provenance

  2017cited by this paper
• Impact of Middle Eastern Dust storms on human health

  2017cited by this paper
• Regional Distribution of Longevity Population and Elements in Drinking Water in Jiangjin District, Chongqing City, China

  2017cited by this paper
• Assessment of legislation and practices for the sustainable management of waste electrical and electronic equipment in India

  2017cited by this paper
• Strontium concentration, radiogenic (87Sr/86Sr) and stable (δ88Sr) strontium isotope systematics in a controlled feeding study

  2017cited by this paper
• Lead isotope evolution across the Neoproterozoic boundary between craton and juvenile crust, Bayuda Desert, Sudan

  2017cited by this paper
• Pb and Sr concentrations and isotopic compositions in prehistoric North American teeth: A methodological study

  2016cited by this paper
• Chemical composition and source apportionment of PM 2.5 during Chinese Spring Festival at Xinxiang, a heavily polluted city in North China: Fireworks and health risks

  2016cited by this paper
• Improvement of laser ablation in situ micro-analysis to identify diagenetic alteration and measure strontium isotope ratios in fossil human teeth

  2016cited by this paper
• Evaluation of the efficacy of spatiotemporal Pb isoscapes for provenancing of human remains.

  2016cited by this paper
• IveGot1: Reporting and Tracking Invasive Species in Florida

  2016cited by this paper
• Comparison of the mineral elements in drinking water between Mengshan longevity district and Jinan city

  2016cited by this paper
• Roman and late-Roman glass from north-eastern Italy: The isotopic perspective to provenance its raw materials

  2015cited by this paper
• Uptake and Distribution of Stable Strontium in 26 Cultivars of Three Crop Species: Oats, Wheat, and Barley for Their Potential Use in Phytoremediation

  2015cited by this paper
• Geochemical heterogeneity of sand deposits and its implications for the provenance determination of Roman glass

  2015cited by this paper
• Remote sensing and GIS techniques for reconstructing Arabian palaeohydrology and identifying archaeological sites

  2015cited by this paper
• Origin and formational history of some Pb-Zn deposits from Alborz and Central Iran: Pb isotope constraints

  2015cited by this paper
• Strontium isotopes as an indicator of human migration – easy questions, difficult answers

  2015cited by this paper
• Shifting sediment sources in the world's longest river: a strontium isotope record for the Holocene Nile

  2015cited by this paper
• The Neoproterozoic evolution of the central-eastern Bayuda Desert (Sudan)

  2014cited by this paper
• Iron deposition in modern and archaeological teeth

  2014cited by this paper
• Dust transport and synoptic conditions over the Sahara-Arabia deserts during the MIS6/5 and 2/1 transitions from grain-size, chemical and isotopic properties of Red Sea cores

  2013cited by this paper
• A three-year time series of mineral dust deposits on the West African margin: Sedimentological and geochemical signatures and implications for interpretation of marine paleo-dust records

  2013cited by this paper
• Pliocene–Pleistocene climate of the northern margin of Saharan–Arabian Desert recorded in speleothems from the Negev Desert, Israel

  2013cited by this paper
• Laser ablation depth profiling of U-series and Sr isotopes in human fossils

  2013cited by this paper
• Egyptian mummies record increasing aridity in the Nile valley from 5500 to 1500 yr before present

  2013cited by this paper
• Bulk composition of northern African dust and its source sediments — A compilation

  2013cited by this paper
• Strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) variability in the Nile Valley: identifying residential mobility during ancient Egyptian and Nubian sociopolitical changes in the New Kingdom and Napatan periods.

  2013cited by this paper
• Geochemical and isotopic characterization of the Bodélé Depression dust source and implications for transatlantic dust transport to the Amazon Basin

  2013cited by this paper
• Comparison of satellite based observations of Saharan dust source areas

  2012cited by this paper
• Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr in different environmental samples--effects of anthropogenic contamination and implications for isoscapes in past migration studies.

  2012cited by this paper
• Trace element diffusivities in bone rule out simple diffusive uptake during fossilization but explain in vivo uptake and release

  2012cited by this paper
• The consequences of Wari contact in the Nasca region during the Middle Horizon: archaeological, skeletal, and isotopic evidence

  2012cited by this paper
• Effect of dust storm events on daily emergency admissions for respiratory diseases

  2012cited by this paper
• Applications of Sr Isotopes in Archaeology

  2012cited by this paper
• Strontium isotopes and nutrient sourcing in a semi-arid woodland

  2012cited by this paper
• Effects of Several Environmental Factors on Longevity and Health of the Human Population of Zhongxiang, Hubei, China

  2011cited by this paper
• Pb isotopic compositions of some Zn–Pb deposits and occurrences from Urumieh–Dokhtar and Sanandaj–Sirjan zones in Iran

  2011cited by this paper
• Tracing Nile sediment sources by Sr and Nd isotope signatures (Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan)

  2011cited by this paper
• Nd and Sr isotope compositions in modern and fossil bones – Proxies for vertebrate provenance and taphonomy

  2011cited by this paper
• Model, proxy and isotopic perspectives on the East African Humid Period

  2011cited by this paper
• The geographic distribution of strontium isotopes in Danish surface waters – A base for provenance studies in archaeology, hydrology and agriculture

  2011cited by this paper
• Strontium and stable isotope evidence for diet and mobility in Roman Gloucester, UK

  2010cited by this paper
• The effect of tissue structure and soil chemistry on trace element uptake in fossils

  2010cited by this paper
• Strontium isotope ratios in fossil teeth from South Africa: assessing laser ablation MC-ICP-MS analysis and the extent of diagenesis

  2010cited by this paper
• Investigation of chemical changes in bone material from South African fossil hominid deposits

  2010cited by this paper
• Isoscapes: Spatial Pattern in Isotopic Biogeochemistry

  2010cited by this paper
• In situ analysis of human teeth by external PIXE

  2010cited by this paper
• Romita pottery revisited: a reassessment of the provenance of ceramics from Colonial Mexico by LA-MC-ICP-MS

  2010cited by this paper
• Visualizing fossilization using laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry maps of trace elements in Late Cretaceous bones

  2009cited by this paper
• Comments on Richards et al., Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 2008 “Strontium isotope evidence of Neanderthal mobility at the site of Lakonis, Greece using laser-ablation PIMMS”

  2009cited by this paper
• Reconstructing Middle Horizon mobility patterns on the coast of Peru through strontium isotope analysis

  2009cited by this paper
• Insights into immigration and social class at Machu Picchu, Peru based on oxygen, strontium, and lead isotopic analysis

  2009cited by this paper
• Strontium Isotope Evidence for Prehistoric Migration at Chokepukio, Valley of Cuzco, Peru

  2009cited by this paper
• Tiwanaku Influence in the South Central Andes: Strontium Isotope Analysis and Middle Horizon Migration

  2008cited by this paper
• Comparing rates of recrystallisation and the potential for preservation of biomolecules from the distribution of trace elements in fossil bones

  2008cited by this paper
• Trace element and Pb isotope provenance analyses of native copper in northwestern North America: results of a recent pilot study using INAA, ICP-MS, and LA-MC-ICP-MS

  2008cited by this paper
• IN‐SITU ELEMENTAL AND Sr ISOTOPE INVESTIGATION OF HUMAN TOOTH ENAMEL BY LASER ABLATION‐(MC)‐ICP‐MS: SUCCESSES AND PITFALLS*

  2008cited by this paper
• Zircon geochronology and Sr, Nd, Pb isotope geochemistry of granitoids from Bayuda Desert and Sabaloka (Sudan): Evidence for a Bayudian event (920–900 Ma) preceding the Pan-African orogenic cycle (860–590 Ma) at the eastern boundary of the Saharan Metacraton

  2008cited by this paper
• Implications of diagenesis for the isotopic analysis of Upper Miocene large mammalian herbivore tooth enamel from Chad

  2008cited by this paper
• Determination of Sr isotopes in calcium phosphates using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and their application to archaeological tooth enamel

  2008cited by this paper
• High-precision Pb isotopic measurements of teeth and environmental samples from Sofia (Bulgaria): insights for regional lead sources and possible pathways to the human body

  2008cited by this paper
• Broad‐beam PIXE and µ‐PIXE analysis of normal and in vitro demineralized dental enamel

  2008cited by this paper
• Migration in the Nile Valley during the New Kingdom period : a preliminary strontium isotope study

  2007cited by this paper
• Resolving archaeological populations with Sr-isotope mixing models

  2007cited by this paper
• A strontium and oxygen isotope assessment of a possible fourth century immigrant population in a Hampshire cemetery, southern England

  2006cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.