The potential of carbonized grain to preserve biogenic (SR)-S-87/(SR)-S-86 signatures within the burial environment.

Carbonized grains survive for millennia in many archaeological contexts. Their stable structure raises the possibility that they preserve biogenic strontium isotope signatures. This hypothesis was investigated using short-term, laboratory experiments with modern grain immersed in Chalk solution. HCl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeometry
Main Authors: Heier, A., Evans, J.A., Montgomery, J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Blackwell 2009
Subjects:
Carbonized grain
Strontium isotopes
Diagenesis
TIMS
Trade
Agriculture
North Atlantic Strontium
Isotope ratios
SR-87/SR-86 ratios
Bone
Calcium
Soil
Transport
Dietary
Roots
Xylem
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://dro.dur.ac.uk/8598/
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00409.x
Description
Summary:Carbonized grains survive for millennia in many archaeological contexts. Their stable structure raises the possibility that they preserve biogenic strontium isotope signatures. This hypothesis was investigated using short-term, laboratory experiments with modern grain immersed in Chalk solution. HCl leaching removed > 95% of secondary alteration from charred grain, and isotope ratios close to the starting value were recovered. This could not be achieved with uncharred grains. HCl leaching of archaeological carbonized grains produced comparable levels of decontamination. Although preliminary, these results suggest that strontium isotope analysis of archaeological carbonized grains from calcareous burial contexts could be used to investigate ancient trade and agriculture

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