Childhood mobility revealed by strontium isotope analysis: a review of the multiple tooth sampling approach

Laser ablation strontium isotope analysis of human remains from Harlaa and Sofi, eastern Ethiopia, and the implications for Islamisation and mobility

“…The analysis of stable and radiogenic strontium isotopes in human and faunal tooth enamel is widely used in archaeology to study mobility patterns of past populations (Bentley 2006;Hrnčíř and Laffoon 2019;Montgomery 2010), including recent applications studying long distance mobility in large ancient cities (Perry, Jennings, and Coleman 2017;Wong et al 2018) and in other Islamic contexts (Allen et al 2020). Strontium isotope ratios of bedrock geology vary according to the age of the rocks and the chemical composition at the point of rock formation, specifically the initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and proportion of radioactive rubidium 87 Rb, which decays on geological timescales to radiogenic but stable strontium 87 Sr (Faure and Mensing 2005).…”

“…Yet the situation with strontium is less clear and questions remain about the residence time and turnover of strontium in the body, the proportion of strontium contributed to a growing foetus from dietary vs maternal body tissue sources, and how these things may vary across different species (Lugli et al 2017;Lugli et al 2019;Montgomery 2010). Many previous studies have measured and successfully interpreted strontium isotope data from deciduous human teeth (reviewed in Hrnčíř and Laffoon 2019;Knipper et al 2018;Knudson et al 2016;Lugli et al 2017;Lugli et al 2019) and earlier-forming permanent dentition that likely overlaps with the breastfeeding and weaning period (Evans, Chenery, and Fitzpatrick 2006; reviewed in Hrnčíř and Laffoon 2019;Müller et al 2003). More broadly, earlier-forming teeth such as 1st molars are routinely used for research into the mobility of past populations using other isotope systems such as δ 18 O (Prowse et al 2007) despite similar concerns about fractionation effects caused by breastfeeding (Wright and Schwarcz 1998).…”

First insights into human mobility in Neolithic Belgium using strontium isotopic analysis and proteomics: A case study of Grotte de La Faucille (Sclayn, province of Namur)

“…For all measurements in this study, the 2SE varies between 0.000011 and 0.000124. Studies often report 2SE of approximately 0.000010 for 87 Sr/ 86 Sr measurements (Hrnčíř & Laffoon, 2019). In this study, the 2SEs obtained are larger, which can be explained by the small sample sizes and lower Sr concentrations.…”

A sexual division of labour at the start of agriculture? A multi-proxy comparison through grave good stone tool technological and use-wear analysis

“…As strontium isotope data from local animals are not available, nor are baseline models predicting geological strontium variations (except in the case of Schwetzingen and indirectly Vendenheim and Aiterhofen), a range of values for children and juveniles was used as the “local” indicator in eastern sites ( Fig 17A–17C ). This approach assumes that children were more likely to be local because they had less time to migrate than adults in their lifetime [ 117 ].…”