Carbon Isotope Analysis

Apart from chemical analysis, thermoluminescence (TL), isotope analysis, Carbon 14 (14C) dating and several methods using thin sections should be mentioned here as further techniques applied to ceramics. 

We proposed to study diet and health by combining bone chemistry and histomorphometry. Diet would be determined by analysis of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in bone protein and some preserved hair. In addition, trace elements would be quantitatively analyzed in preserved bone mineral. Abonyi (1993) participated in the study by reconstructing the diet from historical sources and analyzing various foods. Having analyzed human tissues for stable isotopes and trace elements, and foods for the same variables, we hoped to learn more about 19th century diet in southern Ontario, and at the same time, learn more about paleodiet reconstruction. 

The diet of the 19 century residents of Upper Canada was determined from historical sources and was reproduced in order to carry out chemical analysis. Stable carbon isotope analysis of food and human bone demonstrates that the spacing between the food eaten and the bone collagen is around 5.6%o. The value may vary slightly from this estimate since the latter is based on a reconstructed diet and a large number of bone samples, which exhibit a small amount of variation. Nevertheless, this empirically derived result agrees well with estimates from field (Vogel 1978), and laboratory studies (reviewed in Ambrose 1993). 

Marino, B.D. and DeNiro, M.J. 1987 Isotopic analysis of archaeobotanicals to reconstruct past climates Effects of activities associated with food preparation on carbon, hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of plant cellulose. Journal of Archaeological Science 14 537-548. 

Ambrose, S.H. 1986 Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human and animal diet in Mrica. Journal of Human Evolution 15 707-731. 

Lee-Thorp, J.A. and van der Merwe, N.J. 1987 Carbon isotope analysis of fossil bone apatite. South African Journal of Science 83 71-74. 

Cerling, T. and Sharp, Z. 1996 Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of fossil tooth enamel... 

Katzenberg, M.A. 1991 Analysis of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen. In Pfeiffer, S. and Williamson, R.F., eds.. Snake Hill An Investigation of a Military Cemetery from the War of 1812. Toronto, Dundrun Press 247-255. 

Liden, K., Takahasi, C. and Nelson, D.E. 1995 The effects of lipids in stable carbon isotope analysis and the effects of NaOH treatment on the composition of extracted bone collagen. Journal ofArchaeological Science 22 321-326. 

Carbon. Determination of 8 has been carried out by GC separation of the analytes followed by high-temperature oxidation. Although oxidation with CuO at 850°C has been used, use of NiO at 1050°C supplemented by O2 is preferable, and it is important to remove HjO before isotopic analysis (Merritt et al. 1995). 

Holt BD, NC Sturchio, TA Abrajano, LJ Heraty (1997) Conversion of chlorinated volatile organic compounds to carbon dioxide and methyl chloride for isotopic analysis of carbon and chlorine. Anal Chem 69 2727-2733. 

Griebler C, M Safinowski, A Vieth, HH Richnow, RU Meckenstock (2004) Combined application of stable carbon isotope analysis and specific metabolites determination for assessing in situ degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons in a tar oil-contaminated aquifer. Environ Sci Technol 38 617-631. 

Jarman WM, A Hilkert, CE Bacon, JW Collister, K Ballschmiter, RW Risebrough (1998) Compound-specific carbon isotopic analysis of Arochlors, Clophens, Kanechlors, and Phenoclors. Environ Sci Technol 32 833-836. 

SIMS techniques have occupied somewhat of a narrower niche in uranium-series analysis, but have significantly improved Th isotope analysis relative to TIMS for chemically separated samples. The major improvement relative to TIMS is an improvement by about an order of magnitude in efficiency or sample size requirements for silicates. For uranium and/or thorium rich minerals such as carbonates and zircons, both SIMS and laser-ablation MC-ICPMS have been used for the direct in situ analysis of U and Th isotopes (Reid et al. 1997 Stirling et al. 2000) on very small (pg to ng levels of total U and Th) samples, at 10-100 pm scale resolution. 

Ambrose, S. H. (2006), A tool for all seasons - Laser ablation carbon isotope analysis and ancient diets, Science 314, 930-931. 

Fogel, M. L. and Tuross, N. (2003) Extending the limits of palaeodietary studies of humans with compound specific carbon isotope analysis of amino acids. Journal of Archaeological Science 30, 535 545. 

Jim, S., Jones, V., Ambrose, S. H. and Evershed, R. P. (2006) Quantifying dietary macronutrient sources of carbon for bone collagen using natural abundance stable carbon isotope analysis. British Journal of Nutrition 95, 1055 1062. 

Ramsay, M. A. and Hobson, K. A. (1991) Polar bears make little use of terrestrial food webs evidence from stable carbon isotope analysis. Oecologia 86, 598 600. 

Reber, E. A. and Evershed, R. P. (2004a) How did Mississippians prepare maize The application of compound specific carbon isotopic analysis to absorbed pottery residues from several Mississippi Valley sites. Archaeometry 46, 19 33. 

Sherriff, B. L., Tisdale, M. A., Sayer, B. G., Schwarcz, H. P. and Knyf, M. (1995) Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic and isotopic analysis of carbonized residues from subartic Canadian prehistoric pottery. Archaeometry 37, 95 111. 

Silfer, J. A., Engel, M. H., Macko, S. A. and Jumeau, E. J. (1991). Stable carbon isotope analysis of amino acid enantiomers by conventional isotope ratio mass spectrometry and combined gas chromatography isotope ratio massspectrometry. Analytical Chemistry 63, 370 374. 

Swanson, J. R., Carbon Isotope Analysis of Carbonaceous Compounds in Puget Sound and Lake Washington, PhD Thesis, University of Washington, 1980 and Swanson, J. R., Fairhall, A., Currie, L. A., Carbon Isotope Analysis of Sedimentary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (in preparation). 

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