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Many explanations for Eocene climate change focus on the Southern Ocean-where tectonics influenced oceanic gateways, ocean circulation reduced heat transport, and greenhouse gas declines prompted glaciation. To date, few studies focus on marine vertebrates at high latitudes to discern paleoecological and paleoenvironmental impacts of this climate transition. The Tertiary Eocene La Meseta (TELM) Formation has a rich fossil assemblage to characterize these impacts; Striatolamia macrota, an extinct (†) sand tiger shark, is abundant throughout the La Meseta Formation. Body size is often tracked to characterize and integrate across multiple ecological dimensions. †S. macrota body size distributions indicate limited changes during TELMs 2-5 based on anterior tooth crown height (n = 450, mean = 19.6 ± 6.4 mm). Similarly, environmental conditions remained stable through this period based on δ18OPO4 values from tooth enameloid (n = 42; 21.5 ± 1.6‰), which corresponds to a mean temperature of 22.0 ± 4.0°C. Our preliminary ε Nd (n = 4) results indicate an early Drake Passage opening with Pacific inputs during TELM 2-3 (45-43 Ma) based on single unit variation with an overall radiogenic trend. Two possible hypotheses to explain these observations are (1) †S. macrota modified its migration behavior to ameliorate environmental changes related to the Drake Passage opening, or (2) the local climate change was small and gateway opening had little impact. While we cannot rule out an ecological explanation, a comparison with climate model results suggests that increased CO2 produces warm conditions that also parsimoniously explain the observations.

Yellowfin tuna of the Indian Ocean is overfished, and a better understanding of the stock structure is needed to enable sustainable management. Here, otolith δ18O values of young-of-the-year fish from known nursery areas of the equatorial Indian Ocean (West, Central and East) were used to establish a reference isotopic signature to predict the origin of sub-adult and adult individuals. Sub-adult tuna otolith δ18O values from Reunion Island were similar to the West nursery signature, but otolith δ18O values of sub-adults from Pakistan were unlike any of the nurseries sampled. Therefore, δ18O values from the Pakistan area samples were considered an additional nursery source for predicting the origin of adult tuna, using a multinomial logistic regression classification method. The western equatorial area was the most productive nursery for three fishing grounds sampled, with a minor contribution of Pakistan-like origin fish. Contribution of Central or East nurseries to the adult population was negligible. One adult otolith was analysed by secondary ion mass spectrometry along the otolith growth transect and results were compared with an isoscape approach to infer lifetime movements. This study is an important first step towards understanding the spatial structure and connectivity of the species.

Abstract The Atacama Desert, on the western margin of the Central Andes, hosts some of the world's largest porphyry copper deposits (PCDs). Despite a hyperarid climate, many of these PCDs have undergone secondary “supergene” enrichment, whereby copper has been concentrated via groundwater‐driven leaching and reprecipitation, yielding supergene profiles containing valuable records of weathering and landscape evolution. We combine hematite (U‐Th‐Sm)/He geochronology and oxygen isotope analysis to compare the weathering histories of two Andean PCDs and test the relative importance of climate and tectonics in controlling both enrichment and water table movement. At Cerro Colorado, in the Precordillera, hematite precipitation records prolonged weathering from ∼31 to ∼2 Ma, tracking water table descent following aridity‐induced canyon incision from the late Miocene onward. By contrast, hematite at Spence, within the Central Depression, is mostly younger than ∼10.5 Ma, suggesting exhumation ended much later. A heavy oxygen isotopic signature for Spence hematite suggests that upwelling formation water has been an important source of groundwater, accounting for a high modern water table despite persistent hyperaridity, whereas isotopically light hematite at Cerro Colorado formed in the presence of meteoric water. Compared with published paleo‐environmental and sedimentological records, our data show that weathering can persist beneath appreciable post‐exhumation cover, under hyperarid conditions unconducive to enrichment. The susceptibility of each deposit to aridity‐induced water table descent, canyon incision and deep weathering has been controlled by recharge characteristics and morphotectonic setting. Erosional exhumation, rather than aridity‐induced water table decay, appears to be more important for the development of supergene enrichment.

Yellowfin tuna of the Indian Ocean is overfished, and a better understanding of the stock structure is needed to enable sustainable management. Here, otolith δ18O values of young-of-the-year fish from known nursery areas of the equatorial Indian Ocean (West, Central and East) were used to establish a reference isotopic signature to predict the origin of sub-adult and adult individuals. Sub-adult tuna otolith δ18O values from Reunion Island were similar to the West nursery signature, but otolith δ18O values of sub-adults from Pakistan were unlike any of the nurseries sampled. Therefore, δ18O values from the Pakistan area samples were considered an additional nursery source for predicting the origin of adult tuna, using a multinomial logistic regression classification method. The western equatorial area was the most productive nursery for three fishing grounds sampled, with a minor contribution of Pakistan-like origin fish. Contribution of Central or East nurseries to the adult population was negligible. One adult otolith was analysed by secondary ion mass spectrometry along the otolith growth transect and results were compared with an isoscape approach to infer lifetime movements. This study is an important first step towards understanding the spatial structure and connectivity of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the alteration history of the olivine-phyric, highly depleted (HD) shergottite, Northwest Africa (NWA) 10416, paying particular attention to the origin of the aqueous alteration seen affecting the meteorite's olivine megacrysts. The rock's interior displays 1 mm, zoned, altered olivine megacrysts set in a groundmass of clinopyroxene, unzoned olivine, and interstitial plagioclase and maskelynite. Synchrotron micro X-ray diffraction (µ-XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that plagioclase and maskelynite have been partially replaced by kaolinite. The relict olivine megacryst cores display a unique concentric colouration for martian meteorites, having central amber-coloured zones surrounded by a brown mantle zone, with the rims remaining clear and unaltered. This colouration is a result of fluid alteration and partial replacement, with hydration. TEM analysis revealed the ∼200 nm scale banded and largely amorphous nature of the alteration, but with some (∼20%) relict crystalline olivine patches. Although the coloured olivine zones show cation and anion site vacancies compared to stoichiometric olivine, a relict igneous compositional trend is preserved in the megacrysts, from Mg-rich altered cores (Mg# = 76) to unaltered stoichiometric rims (Fo 53). Synchrotron Fe-K X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analysis revealed that the coloured zones of the megacryst have different Fe oxidation values. High ferric contents are present in the brown mantle zones (Fe3+/ΣFe ≤ 0.92) and the amber zones (Fe3+/ΣFe ≤ 0.30), whereas the clear rims are ferrous. This suggests alteration occurred in an oxidising environment and that the sharp contrast in colour of the megacryst (brown to clear) is a record of a relict fluid reaction front. In order to test the terrestrial or extraterrestrial origin of the alteration, olivine material from a shock-melt vein was analysed by TEM. The analysis revealed 0.952 nm curved d -spacing's from clay alteration undisturbed by any shock effects, strongly suggesting a terrestrial origin. The d-spacing values most likely represent a collapsed saponite or vermiculite, showing that in some places olivine has been replaced by crystalline clay. Oxygen isotope analysis of bulk (Δ17O = 0.309 ± 0.009 (2σ) ‰) and amber-coloured megacryst material (=0.271 ± 0.002 (2σ) ‰), are also consistent with terrestrial alteration. We propose a model in which, during the meteorite's time in Northwest Africa, low-temperature, likely acidic, groundwater exploited fractures. The fluid altered the olivine megacrysts in a way that was controlled by the pre-existing, igneous compositional zonation, with Mg-rich olivine being more susceptible to alteration in this fluid environment. The plagioclase and maskelynite were also altered to a high degree. After the alteration event it is likely that NWA 10416 had a significant residence time in Northwest Africa, accounting for terrestrial calcite and the dehydration of some clay phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the link between the consumption of foodstuffs, excavation of a large pit, and disposal of waste at the Tillar Farms site (3DR30), southeast Arkansas, using refit and oxygen isotope analyses of well-preserved freshwater mussel shells from Feature 1. Only 0.13% of 7,408 valves analyzed were unidentifiable to species.The refit analysis produced 460 refits across 23 species and strongly indicates that the shell midden represents a single episode of shellfish gathering, consumption, and discard. Oxygen isotope analysis of five randomly selected shells are used as a test of the refit results. δ18O values from the five archaeological shells are compared to modern control samples of live-collected specimens from Bayou Bartholomew in winter of 2011. Refit analysis suggests the accumulation of mussel shells occurred quickly, likely as a result of one collection, consumption, and discard event. δ18O values suggest this activity took place during a single winter season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The ocean is an important source of methane, however, the sources of oceanic methane and mechanisms of its release to the atmosphere have only recently begun to be understood. Recent studies have identified methylphosphonate (MPn) as a previously unknown and likely source of methane in the aerobic ocean (Karl et al., 2008), as well as shown the biosynthesis of methylphosphonic acid to be a widespread trait in marine microbes (Metcalf et al., 2012). The mechanisms and reaction pathways from MPn to free methane, however, have not been well studied. Here we present results of laboratory studies on the photo-degradation of MPn, a likely mechanism of methane release to the atmosphere and phosphate release to the surface oceans. Phosphonoacetic acid was also studied as an additional model compound for comparison. We used the multi-labeled water isotope probing (MLWIP) approach, involving 18O-labeled waters to probe the photolytic mechanism of C P bond cleavage in phosphates through analysis of P released from MPn as PO 4. These studies identified distinct reaction pathways involving phosphates compared with other common organophosphorus compounds (e.g., phosphoesters), as well as suggest the involvement of both ambient water and atmospheric oxygen in C P bond cleavage. There is only a small amount of water oxygen incorporated into product PO 4 after cleavage of the C P bond in MPn, suggesting atmospheric O 2 or radicals formed from O 2 under Ultra Violet Radiation (UVR), as the primary source of O that replaces C in the C P bond of MPn. Model calculations suggest that the δ18O P signature of phosphate released via UV-degradation of phosphates is largely (75%) inherited from the original phosphate substrate. This opens up the possibility of tracing and differentiating specific phosphate sources of dissolved phosphate from other organophosphorus (Porg) sources (e.g., phosphoesters) used in primary production, as well as for tracing specific MPn sources of atmospheric methane. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Photo-degradation of MPn, a likely mechanism of methane release to the atmosphere. • Multi-labeled water isotope probing approach was used to probe the C P bond cleavage. • Both ambient water and atmospheric O 2 involved during photo-degradation of MPn and PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calculating age and growth rate for the commercially important whelk, Buccinum undatum in the aid of fishery management has historically been undertaken using growth rings on the organic operculum. This is difficult due to their poor readability and confusion between two different sets of growth lines present. Recent work presented the calcium carbonate statolith as an alternative for age determination of B. undatum. Here we compare the use of statoliths and opercula, comparing their readability and creating growth curves for three distinct populations across the United Kingdom. Using these data, we also test the most appropriate growth equation to model this species. Lastly, we use oxygen isotope analysis of the shells to assign accurate ages to several individuals from each site. These data were used to test the accuracy of statolith and operculum ages. Statoliths, whilst more time consuming to process have improved clarity and accuracy compared with the opercula. This improved readability has highlighted that a Gompertz growth function should be used for populations of this species, when in past studies, von Bertalanffy is often used. Statoliths are a viable improvement to opercula when assessing B. undatum in the context of fishery monitoring and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucony is present in the Palaeocene sediments of the London Basin, from the Thanet Sand Formation to the gravel beds at the base of the Lower Mottled Beds of the Reading Formation. The Upnor Formation glaucony is a rare example of formation in warm, shallow, brackish water and this, combined with the ready availability of fresh material from boreholes, make this study important in developing our understanding of this mineral. Glaucony comprises up to 50% of the Upnor Formation, a grey to green sandstone, of variable thickness and composition, which was deposited in awarm, shallow, marine to estuarine environment, ~55.6-56.2 Ma. Using morphological criteria, X-ray diffraction data and K+ abundance, the Upnor glaucony may be defined as evolved. The underlying shallow marine Thanet Sand contains <5% of nascent to slightly evolved glaucony. The rare earth element (REE) data for the Upnor Formation suggest more than one source for the sediment from which the Upnor glaucony formed, while the Thanet REE data are consistent with a large detrital clay component. In the Upnor Formation, the large proportion of glaucony that occurs as granule fragments rather than whole granules, and the high-energy estuarine to shallow-marine environment of deposition, are indicative of reworking. The Upnor glaucony is inferred to be intraformationally reworked, rather than derived from the Thanet Sand Formation. The glaucony may have formed in sediments deposited away from the main estuarine channel, and been subsequently reworked into higher-energy sediments.Warm seas with freshwater mixing are more typically characteristic of verdine formation than of glaucony. The shallow, brackish environment of deposition suggests that there is not a clear distinction between the environmental requirements of verdine (or odinite) and glaucony (or glauconite), as is often proposed. The highly fractured, delicate nature of some granules indicates that they have experienced somematuration in situ, after reworking. The oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions of Upnor Formation shark teeth and glaucony point to formation in low-salinity water at ~23 ± 3°C, also consistent with formation in the Upnor Formation, rather than in a fully marine sediment and subsequent reworking. A higher than normal temperature of formation may have increased the rate of evolution of glaucony. Our multidisciplinary study considers many of the factors relating to depositional environment that must be considered when glaucony-rich facies are encountered in comparable palaeo-environmental settings elsewhere in the geological record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the early Roman period, there is archaeological evidence for the exploitation of the Flemish coastal plain (Belgium) for a range of activities, such as sheep herding on the then developing salt-marshes and salt-meadows for the production of wool. During the early Middle Ages, this culminated in the establishment of dedicated ‘sheep estates’. This phase of exploitation was followed by extensive drainage and land reclamation measures in the high Medieval period, transforming areas into grassland, suited for cattle breeding. As part of a larger project investigating the onset, intensification and final decline of sheep management in coastal Flanders in the historical period, this pilot study presents the results of sequential sampling and oxygen isotope analysis of a number of sheep teeth (M2,n = 8) from four late Roman and Medieval sites (dating from 4th to 15th century AD), in order to assess potential variations in season of birth between the different sites and through time. In comparison with published data from herds of known birth season, incremental enamel data from the Flemish sites are consistent with late winter/spring births, with the possibility of some instances of slightly earlier parturition. These findings suggest that manipulation of season of birth was not a feature of the sheep husbandry-based economies of early historic Flanders, further evidencing that wool production was the main purpose of contemporary sheep rearing in the region. Manipulation of season of birth is not likely to have afforded economic advantage in wool-centred economies, unlike in some milk- or meat-based regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zusammenfassung: Im Rahmen einer Pilotstudie wurden fünf menschliche Skelette aus dem Grabhügel Lozianska Mogila nahe des heutigen Dorfes Bojanovo, Bulgarien, für Multi-Isotopenanalysen (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) ausgewählt. Die Bestattungen datieren in die Früh- und Mittelbronzezeit. Einige der frühbronzezeitlichen Individuen zeigten Übereinstimmungen mit einem Bestattungsritual, welches für die Jamnaja- oder Grubengrabkultur charakteristisch ist. Die Ergebnisse der Strontium- und Sauerstoffisotopenanalysen am Zahnschmelz der untersuchten Skelette verweisen auf einen erhöhten Grad an Mobilität, der entweder als Indikator für Migrationen oder als Hinweis auf kleinräumige Bewegungen zwischen verschiedenen regionalen Siedlungen verstanden werden kann. Sie sind jedoch kein Beleg für Migrationen aus den osteuropäischen Steppenregionen, wie auf Basis des archäologischen Materials möglicherweise vermutet. Die Ergebnisse der Kohlenstoffund Stickstoffisotopenanalysen sind relativ konsistent. Sie sind als charakteristisch für eine Ernährung anzusehen, die vornehmlich auf C3-Nahrungsressourcen basiert mit einem geringen Einfluss an C4-Nahrungskomponenten. Résumé: Cinq squelettes humains provenant du tumulus funéraire de Lozianska Mogila près de Boyanovo en Bulgarie ont été sélectionnés pour une étude-pilote d'isotopes multiples (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N). Les sépultures datent de l'âge du Bronze Ancien et Moyen; les sépultures du Bronze Ancien ont certaines affinités avec les rites funéraires pratiqués par des communautés associées à la culture Yamna ou cultures des tombes à fosses. Les résultats des analyses isotopiques du strontium et de l'oxygène effectuées sur l'émail des dents indiquent une mobilité accrue, qui pourrait être due soit à une migration réelle, soit à de simples mouvements entre plusieurs habitats de la région. Ils ne sont pas suffisamment probants pour étayer une hypothèse de migration venant des steppes de l'Europe de l'Est, comme le suggèrent (en partie) les données archéologiques. Les résultats des analyses isotopiques du carbone et du nitrogène sont relativement cohérents et suggèrent une alimentation basée sur les plantes en C3 et la viande, avec un apport mineur de plantes en C4. Abstract: Five Bronze Age human skeletons from the burial mound of Lozianska Mogila near Boyanovo, Bulgaria, were selected for a multi-isotopic (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) pilot study. The burials date to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, and the Early Bronze Age burials partly show affinities with the burial rite practised by communities associated with the Yamnaya or Pit Grave culture. The results of strontium and oxygen isotope analyses on tooth enamel indicate an increased level of mobility, suggesting either actual migration events or simply movement between various regional settlement sites. They do not provide sufficiently convincing evidence for migrations from the steppes of Eastern Europe as (partly) suggested by the archaeological record. The results of carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis are relatively consistent and indicate a diet based on C3 plants and meat sources with a minor input of C 4 resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Bioarchaeological approaches are well suited for examining past responses to political and environmental changes. In the Andes, we hypothesized that political and environmental changes around AD 1100 resulted in behavioral changes, visible as shifts in paleodiet and paleomobility, among individuals in the San Pedro de Atacama oases and Loa River Valley. To investigate this hypothesis, we generated carbon and oxygen isotope data from cemeteries dating to the early Middle Horizon (Larache, Quitor-5, Solor-3), late Middle Horizon (Casa Parroquial, Coyo Oriental, Coyo-3, Solcor-Plaza, Solcor-3, Tchecar), and Late Intermediate Period (Caspana, Quitor-6 Tardío, Toconce, Yaye-1, Yaye-2, Yaye-3, Yaye-4). Carbon isotope data demonstrate a greater range of carbon sources during the late Middle Horizon compared with the Late Intermediate Period; while most individuals consumed largely C3 sources, some late Middle Horizon individuals consumed more C4 sources. Oxygen isotope data demonstrate greater diversity in drinking water sources during the late Middle Horizon compared with the Late Intermediate Period. Water samples were analyzed to provide baseline data on oxygen isotope variability within the Atacama Desert, and demonstrated that oxygen isotope values are indistinguishable in the San Pedro and Loa Rivers. However, oxygen isotope values in water sources in the high-altitude altiplano and coast are distinct from those in the San Pedro and Loa Rivers. In conclusion, instead of utilizing a wider variety of resources after environmental and political changes, individuals exhibited a wider range of paleodietary and paleomobility strategies during the Middle Horizon, a period of environmental and political stability. Am J Phys Anthropol 157:179-201, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fish otoliths from the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area (south-western New South Wales, Australia) have been analysed for oxygen isotopes and trace elements using in situ techniques, and dated by radiocarbon. The study focused on the lunettes of Lake Mungo, an overflow lake that only filled during flooding events and emptied by evaporation, and Lake Mulurulu, which was part of the running Willandra Creek system. Samples were collected from two different contexts: from hearths directly associated with human activity, and isolated surface finds. AMS radiocarbon dating constrains the human activity documented by five different hearths to a time span of less than 240 years around 19,350 cal. BP. These hearths were constructed in aeolian sediments with alternating clay and sand layers, indicative of fluctuating lake levels and occasional drying out. The geochemistry of the otoliths confirms this scenario, with shifts in Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca marking the entry of the fish into Lake Mungo several years before their death, and a subsequent increase in the δ18O by ∼4‰ indicating increasing evaporation of the lake. During sustained lake-full conditions there are considerably fewer traces of human presence. It seems that the evaporating Lake Mungo attracted people to harvest fish that might have become sluggish through oxygen starvation in an increasingly saline water body (easy prey hypothesis). In contrast, surface finds have a much wider range in radiocarbon age as a result of reworking, and do not necessarily indicate evaporative conditions, as shown by comparison with otoliths from upstream Lake Mulurulu. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] A novel ToF-SIMS mode and its performance and application is described. [•] CBA mode allows measurements with sub 100nm lateral resolution. [•] Adjusting the primary ion current is possible for accurate oxygen isotope analysis. [•] 4 application examples show novel or improved scientific results using CBA mode. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents and tests a model designed to investigate how off-site herd management developed in settled pre-historic societies. The model is constructed from data collected from traditionally raised local sheep, acting as an interpretive link to published data. The modern comparator was small, but plausible results allow modelling of the archaeological data to be explored. Birth seasonality and herding location are identified through modelled patterns in oxygen isotope data in tooth enamel, and diet just before death by microwear in the same tooth. In combination, these allow aspects of seasonal management of breeding, fallow and slaughter herd sections to be interpreted. Novel practices are discussed in comparison local wild sheep ethology. The case study is Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7400–6200 cal BC) in central Anatolia. Its location provided the opportunity for different parts of the landscape to be used for herding, although choice might have been socially constrained. Data are taken from 72 specimens; the results suggest settlement-wide preference for a suite of practices that kept herds within a day of the settlement and that maintained breeding cycle synchrony with optimal resource availability. Chronological analysis suggests birth season manipulation was tried but rejected, whilst hay or cereal fodder was introduced and became increasingly important. It is argued that herding was probably on dedicated pasture on the arable fringes rather than in closer integration on ‘garden plots’, as there is no evidence of field-edge weed diets and little evidence of adjusting the birth season to accommodate the crop cycle. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Oxygen isotope values derived from prehistoric mussel (Mytilus californianus) shell calcite are used to determine whether sea-surface temperatures in the vicinity of the Punta Arena site (CA-SCRI-109) on Santa Cruz Island, California, were cooler than present between 6300 and 5300 cal BP. This site and others in the western sector of the island dating to this period are distinctive because of the presence of large red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) shells, a species that historically has been subtidal around Santa Cruz and the other northern Channel Islands. Comparison of temperature values derived from archaeological shells with those from modern mussel shells, along with water temperatures derived from satellites, indicates that waters were cooler during the 6300 to 5300 cal BP period. These results are consistent with a previous study and support the interpretation that collection of red abalone during the 6300–5300 cal BP period was partly the result of cooler water temperatures that made this large mollusk more available to foragers in the intertidal or shallow subtidal zone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: During the early medieval period in Ireland, Dublin was established as the largest Viking settlement on the island in the ninth century AD. A previous biodistance study has suggested that the population of the town consisted of a polyethnic amalgam of immigrant and indigenous. In this study, we use biogeochemistry to investigate paleomobility and paleodiet in archeological human remains from the ninth to eleventh century levels at the sites at Fishamble Street II (National Museum of Ireland excavation number E172), Fishamble Street III (E190) and John’s Lane (E173), as well as twelfth-century remains from Wood Quay (E132). Through radiogenic strontium isotope, stable oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen isotope, and elemental concentration analyses, we investigate the origins of the individuals who lived and died in early and late Viking Dublin. Mean archaeological human enamel and bone isotope values from Dublin are 87Sr/86Sr = 0.70975 ± 0.00139 (2σ, n = 22), δ13Ccarbonate(V-PDB) = −14.8‰ ± 0.8‰ (1σ, n = 12), and δ18Ocarbonate(V-PDB) = −7.2‰ ± 1.0‰ (1σ, n = 12). Archaeological human bone samples exhibit mean δ13Ccollagen(V-PDB) = −20.8‰ ± 0.5‰ (1σ, n = 12) and mean δ15Ncollagen(AIR) = +10.0‰ ± 1.7‰ (1σ, n = 12). Comparing these data with archaeological faunal data from Dublin and published data from northern Europe, we argue that there are no clear immigrants from other parts of the North Atlantic, although there is one clear outlier in both origins and diet. Overall, the relative homogeneity in both paleomobility and paleodiet may support models of acculturation in Viking Dublin, rather than a high number of first-generation immigrants or continued migration from Scandinavia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Here we present strontium, carbon and oxygen isotope measurements from the tooth enamel of 34 adults from Noen U-Loke, an Iron Age site (c. 300BC–500AD) in the Upper Mun River Valley (UMRV), northeast Thailand. The Mun Valley is rich in archaeological sites from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, with evidence for changes in social complexity, new technologies and population growth. Whether the population growth in the UMRV was intrinsic, as opposed to extrinsically due to immigration, is an unresolved question. Our results suggest low levels of long-distance immigration, with only three (two females, one male) of the thirty-four individuals as probable immigrants from outside the region. We discuss the implications of this result as a contribution to longer-term investigations of population growth, human mobility and fertility during this prehistoric period of substantial societal changes in mainland Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) is characterized by a shift from a 41-kyr to a 100-kyr climate cycle of approximately 1.25–0.7 Ma. However, proxy records before the MPT are sparse in the northwestern Pacific region. To investigate the marine environment around the oceanographic convergence zone of the northwestern Pacific prior to the MPT, we conducted biostratigraphic and oxygen isotope analyses of planktonic foraminifera derived from the upper part of the Kiwada Formation of the Kazusa Group, which is distributed in the Boso Peninsula, central Honshu, Japan. The interval investigated was deposited from Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 41 to 36 (ca. 1.31–1.20 Ma). The last occurrence of Globigerinoides obliquus is emplaced 30 m above the tephra layer Kd1 during MIS 37. The first occurrence of Neogloboquadrina inglei is placed somewhere below the tephra layer Kd8 and is older than 1.310 Ma. Time-series environmental proxy changes in the planktonic foraminiferal assemblages and oxygen isotopes suggest that the marine environment off the Boso Peninsula was influenced by the Kuroshio Current and the transitional water close to the Kuroshio Front, while the latitudinal shifts of the Kuroshio Front were associated with the glacial-interglacial periods prior to the MPT. Our results suggest that obliquity variability played a significant role in the mid-latitude Pacific Ocean before the MPT, and the hydrographic change in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre seems to be connected to high-latitude climatic changes. Moreover, the temporary southward migration of the Kuroshio and Subarctic fronts occurred during the late MIS 38, which may be associated with the stronger East Asian winter monsoon. Thus, mid-latitude Pacific oceanographic changes that occurred before the MPT may be linked not only to global remote connections but also to local atmospheric circulation. • We conducted the biostratigraphic and oxygen isotope analyses of the planktonic foraminifera in the Kiwada Formation, central Japan. • The last occurrence of Globigerinoides obliquus was correlated with the late MIS 37. • Palaeoceanographic changes in the mid-latitudes seems to be connected to high-latitude climatic changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Oxygen isotope determinations from 92 California mussel (Mytilus californianus) shells from ten archaeological sites in central coastal California show relatively stable seasonal harvesting patterns between 3600CAL BP and historic contact (AD1769). Coastal occupants harvested mussels nearly year-round and seem to have occupied individual residential bases throughout the seasonal cycle. Interior groups returned with mussels from the coast mostly in the spring and early summer, but almost never in the late summer/early fall when nut crops were harvested. These findings suggest two inter-dependent groups with distinct seasonal settlement strategies: inland people, reliant on acorns and other nut crops harvested in the fall, and coastal inhabitants who were less involved with acorns. This pattern is supported by accounts recorded by the first Spanish explorers in AD1769. While some interior groups may have been seasonally migrating “collectors,” coastal populations were less mobile, inhabiting individual residential sites throughout the year, albeit not necessarily on a permanent basis. These findings highlight the strong influence of coastal environments and resources on hunter-gatherer mobility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We report here a 30 W CO2 laser heating protocol for analyzing oxygen isotope composition (δ 18O in ‰ vs. V-SMOW) of quartz and amorphous silica grains lower than 50 and 2 μm with a good external precision (1σ <0.15‰). This technique is used to investigate δ 18O composition of macro-, micro- and crypto-crystalline quartz cements of quartzite levels occurring in a sand sequence from the South of France (Apt Series), after a physical separation of the quartz cements. δ 18O data obtained from this technique are compared with δ 18O data obtained from in situ ion microprobe analyses. This study also presents promising results on δ 18O analysis of phytoliths obtained with the laser heating protocol (1σ <0.1‰). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The release and collection of gypsum hydration water without isotopic fractionation, or contamination by adsorbed moisture, is complicated by the fact that gypsum starts to lose part of its water at low temperatures, which prevents heating the sample as a cleaning strategy. Additionally, results indicate that even at low vacuum conditions (from 10−2 to 10−3 mb) hydration water of gypsum can be lost, given time enough, particularly if associated with moderately raised temperature. In this report we describe an analytical procedure suitable for the complete release and collection of gypsum hydration water, at the same time that external water is efficiently excluded. The critical step is the elimination of external moisture without the removal of any hydration water. To minimize water losses to the walls of the vacuum line, a low-volume, transfer system (TS) has been designed and built. The procedure requires only about 20–25 mg of gypsum sample (4–5 μl of water) for the oxygen isotopic analysis by the guanidine hydrochloride reaction method, to an overall reproducibility of ±0.5‰ or better. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Evidence from Panama Viejo contradicts the idea of a sudden dietary shift and early homogenization of cultigens with the European conquest. • Stable isotope data indicate more homogeneous sources of dietary protein in the later colonial period then during pre-Hispanic and early colonial times. • Ancestry and social status did not determine access to foods like wheat or plantains at Panama Viejo. • Nutritional deficiencies likely influenced by parasitism and extreme environmental conditions led to pathologies identified in Panama Viejo's colonial population. • Africans' and Europeans' early incorporation of rice into the Panamanian diet appears in multiple lines of evidence. The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been based on chronicles and archival documentation. The present analysis reassesses the historical information about diet in this colonial enclave based on microbotanical, isotopic and bioanthropological evidence obtained from the excavations within and outside the remains of the old city's Cathedral in two locations and four chronological periods to complement and contrast written sources. The ensuing data sets, once integrated, point to the consumption of native plants, particularly maize, among people of different ancestral origins from the settlement's earliest years, as well as the consumption of wheat – which could not be grown in the region – plantains and rice, whose cultivation was introduced successfully. Stable isotope evidence indicates a shift from dietary strategies based on maize, seafood and terrestrial animal meat in pre-Hispanic and early colonial times to diets featuring more C 3 plants, including rice, wheat, and plantains, as well beef and dairy products during the later colonial period. This gradual shift in dietary strategies appears among individuals of Indigenous American, African, European and mixed origins and ancestries, probably influenced by the nutritional and epidemiological stress registered in all of these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present data from multi-isotopic analyses (87Sr/86Sr, δ 18O, δ 13C) of human individuals buried in the Neolithic communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula. The sites researched were Bòbila Madurell, Can Gambús and Puig d'en Roca, all dated to the late 5th and early 4th millennia cal BC. The main objective was to explore chronological movement and the extent to which these communities moved and interacted with their Neolithic counterparts. The results show that the mobility of these communities was limited, as only 8.3% of the individuals exhibited non-local values. In addition, the chronological analysis confirmed their same horizon and temporal distribution. This means that they used resources and raw materials found in the immediate vicinity. It also implies that they had a certain degree of social organization and were already engaged in the trading of raw materials, some of which came from Central Europe and the Mediterranean islands. • North-eastern Iberia Neolithic necropolises: Bòbila Madurell, Can Gambús and Puig d'en Roca. • Multi-isotopic analyses 87Sr/86Sr, δ 18O , δ 13C showed low mobility patterns. • Chronological analysis confirmed their same horizon and temporal distribution. • Iberian Neolithic engaged in trading with Central Europe and the Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]