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Beyond lifetime averages: tracing life histories through isotopic analysis of different calcified tissues from archaeological human skeletons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Judith Sealy ,
Richard Armstrong  and
Carmel Schrire
Judith Sealy
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa
Richard Armstrong
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra 0200 ACT, Australia
Carmel Schrire
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ 08903, USA
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Extract

Stable-isotopic analyses of human bone, now an established aid to dietary reconstruction in archaeology, represent the diet as averaged over many years. Separate analysis of different skeletal components enables changes in diet and place of residence to be tracked, giving a fuller life-history for long-dead individuals.

Type
Papers
Information
Antiquity , Volume 69 , Issue 263 , June 1995 , pp. 290 - 300
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1995

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