Combining strontium and sulphur isotopic analysis with isoscape modelling to better understand faunal mobility and spatiality
Résumé
Strontium isotopic analysis (87Sr/86Sr) has dominated human mobility studies since the
mid-1980s. While strontium allows researchers to identify movement between different
lithologies, it can prove ineffective in regions with homogenous or overly heterogenous
lithology. Additionally, the multi-isotope systems can often prove more effective in
determinations of origin (e.g., 87Sr/86Sr with δ18O).
Sulphur isotopic analysis (δ34S) is proving increasingly useful in archaeological case
studies due to an ever-improving understanding of sulphur isotope variability within
ecosystems, recent innovations in mass spectrometry, and its potential to infer aspects
of both diet and movement histories in the past. Sulphur isotopic variation across
landscapes is correlated with lithology and is strongly influenced by the coastline and the
sea spray effect allowing researchers the potential to identify mobility through variations
in geology but (perhaps more so) also with changes in distance from the coastline. When
combined with strontium isotope analysis, sulphur isotopes have the potential to allow
exploration of individual movement histories and to infer species-specific spatial
behaviours.
This project aims to explore the potentials in multi-isotopic analysis and isoscapes to
reconstruct Late Pleistocene herbivore spatial ecology. Focusing on combining strontium
with sulphur isotopic analysis, this project is being approached in three phases: 1) the
development and refining of a sulphur isoscape for the Dordogne, France; 2) application
of sulphur isotope analyses to faunal remains (bone and dentine) from Middle and Upper
Palaeolithic study sites in the Dordogne and 3) the integration of sulphur isotope data
with laser ablation strontium isotope data from the same fauna. Furthermore, this project
will also focus on best methods to establish a sulphur isoscape and how to meaningfully
interpret sulphur results when combined with strontium.