NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory

In this paper we present data to demonstrate the applicability of laser-ablation MC-ICP-MS isotope analysis to archaeological artefacts, in this case Roman silver coins. The technique requires no chemical preparation, does minimal damage to the sample and yields external reproducibility that is better than conventional TIMS analysis; 207 Pb/ 206 Pb = ± 0.015% 2 σ in comparison with 207 Pb / 206 Pb = ± 0.04% 2 σ , respectively. We show that Pb isotope compositions give isotope fingerprints to mints despite the likely reworking of the metal during coin production.

Monazite paragenesis during low-grade metamorphism is poorly understood. The first unequivocal 10 instance of the mineral having crystallized synchronously with compressional cleavage formation is reported. 11 Compositionally, these monazites resemble diagenetic forms but differ texturally by displaying syntectonic 12 microfabrics. Their predominant association with organic-walled fossils implies that organic material may play 13 an important role in controlling the behaviour of light rare earth elements (LREE) during low-grade 14 metamorphism, probably by releasing diagenetically sequestered LREE and organically bound phosphorus 15 during thermal maturation (devolatilization), and/or by promoting a favourable environment for monazite 16 precipitation. Potentially, such monazites could provide a powerful geochronometer for cleavage formation.

We evaluate local versus distant land-use models at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, central Anatolia, using strontium isotope analysis of sheep tooth enamel and charred plant remains. Interpretation of strontium in sheep tooth sequences is constrained by previous oxygen isotope work, which largely excludes summer movement to the mountains but cannot distinguish between herding on the plain and the closest upland-zone, Neogene limestone terraces. We establish a baseline contrast in modern plant strontium values between the plain and terraces and infer predominant herding on the plain from seven sheep tooth sequences. Archaeobotanical plant strontium values exclude the use of the terraces for cultivation and foraging. Relatively local crop and sheep management, plausibly intensive and integrated to some degree, given limited dry ground, appears likely on the basis of this pilot study.

The earliest known man made glass comes from Mesopotamia and dates to the 23rd century BC. By the 16th century BC the first glass vessels appear in Mesopotamia, but the earliest evidence for the fusion of glass from raw materials has been found at the 13th century BC Egyptian site of Qantir. Chemical analyses of this elite Late Bronze Age material have produced compositional distinctions between glasses found in Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is however debatable whether trace element concentrations provide a (geological) provenance for the glasses. By using neodymium and strontium isotopes to fingerprint well‐dated chemically analysed 15th to 11th century BC glass samples, we show that independent primary production probably occurred in both Egypt and Mesopotamia in the 14th century BC, and that both of these areas exported glass to Greece. We also discuss the technological implications for glass manufacture and colouring that these new data provide. The results add significant new scientific evidence for glass trade between Late Bronze Age palatial societies. Moreover, it is the first time that this methodology has been used to investigate Bronze Age glass.

Ancient Egyptians are thought to have been the only people in the Old World who were practising mummification in the Bronze Age (c. 2200-700 BC). But now a remarkable series of finds from a remote Scottish island indicates that Ancient Britons were performing similar, if less elaborate, practices of bodily preservation. Evidence of mummification is usually limited to a narrow range of arid or frozen environments which are conducive to soft tissue preservation. Mike Parker Pearson and his team show that a combination of ...

Museum enquiries offer a unique opportunity to engage on a one-to-one level with members of the public. This paper covers an unusual enquiry from 2013 of an unknown tooth that was brought into Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery for identification. We highlight how museum enquiries can engage with members of the public by involving them directly with original scientific research. The tooth was found in a garden in Plymouth with no associated data of about where it originated. We identified the tooth, and the enquirer researched the history of the house. The tooth gave the appearance of a sub-fossil so with the large number of Quaternary sites in Plymouth, together with the identification of the previous owner on the site, there were valid reasons to undertake testing of the tooth to determine its origin. Strontium (Sr) isotope analysis of the tooth was carried out to determine if the tooth was British and radiocarbon dating was undertaken to work out the age of the tooth. The 87Sr /86Sr of the leopard tooth gave a value of 0.716131, with Sr concentrations at 568ppm. This is a high concentration of Sr ppm relative to other British data, suggesting a non-British origin. The radiocarbon measurement was 187 ± 24 years BP (University of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit reference OxA-30390). This places the tooth not in the Pleistocene, but between 1739 and 1787 AD. The site where the tooth was discovered was owned by the brother of Linnaeus Tripe who travelled across India and Burma. We argue that the results of this study demonstrate that this leopard tooth was originally from India or Burma, and brought into Britain by Tripe.
A correction article relating to the radiocarbon dates included in this publication can be found here: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/oq.aj

To continue the enquiry into strontium isotope compositions in southern Chinese glazes, this study determines the strontium isotope compositions of porcelain glazes of Dehua 'Blanc De Chine' porcelain and blue-and-white porcelain, and Tai Po blue-and-white porcelain. Mixing lines are displayed in the strontium isotope compositions of the Dehua glazes, suggesting that raw materials of different natures were used to make the two glazes. By referring to the historical resources, a high-calcium plant ash and a mixture of limestone and high-silica ash can be suggested as the fluxes used in the recipes for 'Blanc De Chine' glaze and blue-and-white glaze respectively. The strontium isotope compositions of Tai Po blue-and-white porcelain glazes separate into two groups, suggesting that different recipes were used to make the same glaze. The group A includes too few samples to allow an identification of the raw materials used, while the strontium isotope compositions of group B samples suggest that a high-calcium plant ash was added as the flux.