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Lead Isotope Analysis of Tooth Enamel from a Viking Age Mass Grave in Southern Britain and the Constraints it Places on the Origin of the Individuals
Author(s) -
Evans J. A.,
Pashley V.,
Chenery C. A.,
Loe L.,
Chenery S. R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/arcm.12361
Subject(s) - tooth enamel , isotope analysis , enamel paint , isotopes of strontium , archaeology , strontium , geology , geography , dentistry , oceanography , chemistry , medicine , organic chemistry
Lead analysis of tooth enamel from individuals recovered from a Viking Age burial pit in southern England provides further evidence for their childhood origins outside Britain. All except one of the men have very low Pb concentrations that exclude anthropogenic Pb exposure. Strontium and oxygen isotope compositions identify a core group of men who have Pb isotope compositions of 208 Pb/ 206 Pb = 2.065 ± 0.021 ( n = 20, 2SD) that, when compared with data from European soils, appear to exclude a childhood in the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland, whereas areas of Northern continental Europe cannot be excluded.