If bone is considered as a composite of collagen (protein) and bioapatite (mineral),

Human and animal diet reconstruction studies that rely on tissue chemical signatures aim at providing estimates on the relative intake of potential food groups. However, several sources of uncertainty need to be considered when handling data. Bayesian mixing models provide a natural platform to handle diverse sources of uncertainty while allowing the user to contribute with prior expert information. The Bayesian mixing model FRUITS (Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transferred Signals) was developed for use in diet reconstruction studies. FRUITS incorporates the capability to account for dietary routing, that is, the contribution of different food fractions (e.g. macronutrients) towards a dietary proxy signal measured in the consumer. FRUITS also provides relatively straightforward means for the introduction of prior information on the relative dietary contributions of food groups or food fractions. This type of prior may originate, for instance, from physiological or metabolic studies. FRUITS performance was tested using simulated data and data from a published controlled animal feeding experiment. The feeding experiment data was selected to exemplify the application of the novel capabilities incorporated into FRUITS but also to illustrate some of the aspects that need to be considered when handling data within diet reconstruction studies. FRUITS accurately predicted dietary intakes, and more precise estimates were obtained for dietary scenarios in which expert prior information was included. FRUITS represents a useful tool to achieve accurate and precise food intake estimates in diet reconstruction studies within different scientific fields (e.g. ecology, forensics, archaeology, and dietary physiology).

No abstract

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.

No abstract

No abstract

This article investigates the diets of neighboring Christians and Muslims in late medieval Spain (here 13th–16th centuries) through the analysis of the stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in adult human and animal bone collagen. Twenty-four Christians and 20 Muslims are sampled from two adjacent and contemporaneous settlements in the township of Gandía on the Mediterranean coast, together with the remains of 24 animals. Statistical differences in both δ13C and δ15N reveal that the diets of the two faith communities differed, despite living side-by-side. These differences may relate to inequalities in their access to foodstuffs, particularly to C3/C4 grain and/or possibly terrestrial meat sources, though cultural preferences are also highlighted. Isotopic values for animals were also found to vary widely, both between and within species, and this provides a window into the local livestock economy. Am J Phys Anthropol 156:263–273, 2015. © 2014 The Authors. American Journal of physical Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals,Inc.

. (2002) 'The taphonomy of cooked bone : characterizing boiling and its physico-chemical eects. ', Archaeometry., 44 (3). pp. 485-494. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-4754.t01-1-00080Publisher's copyright statement:Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACTCooking is perhaps the most common pre-burial taphonomic transformation that occurs to bone, yet it is still one of the least understood. Little progress has been made in determining a method of identifying cooked bone in the archaeological record, despite its import for various branches of archaeology. This paper attempts to describe boiling in terms of its physico-chemical effects on bone, and uses a suite of diagenetic indicators to do this.It is shown that cooking for brief periods of time has little distinguishable effect on bone in the short term, but that increased boiling times can mirror diagenetic effects observed in archaeological bone. The relationship between the loss of collagen and alterations to the bone mineral is explored through heating experiments, and the results compared with archaeological data. The possibility of boiling being used as an analogue for bone diagenesis in future studies is raised, and the key relationship between protein and mineral is once again highlighted as vital to our understanding of bone diagenesis.