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CHARACTERIZING THE DIET OF INDIVIDUALS AT THE NEOLITHIC CHAMBERED TOMB OF HAZLETON NORTH, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND, USING STABLE ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS *
Author(s) -
HEDGES R.,
SAVILLE A.,
O’CONNELL T.
Publication year - 2008
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/j.1475-4754.2007.00379.x
Subject(s) - archaeology , isotope analysis , stable isotope ratio , δ13c , human bone , δ15n , biology , human animal , zoology , ecology , geography , livestock , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , in vitro
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions were measured on human and faunal bones, sampled from the Neolithic chambered tomb of Hazleton North, Gloucestershire, UK. The values were used to characterize the diet of the burial community as a whole. Humans were higher in δ 15 N by 4.5–5.0‰ relative to animal δ 15 N, from which we conclude that, based on currently accepted interpretations of isotopic data, the humans consumed a diet that was very high in meat or animal products (75% by weight of protein). Comparison was also possible between cortical and cancellous femoral collagen, with the results showing no significant difference for the adult humans. The sample of human isotopic values showed little variability, in contrast to that found in the domestic and wild animals from the site (including cattle, pigs, sheep and deer). We suggest that this is due to local environmental differences, rather than to environmental change over time or physiological differences between individual animals, and that this pattern is likely to hold for many other archaeological sites when analysed with sufficient statistical weight.