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EAA 2022 - session 213 Isoscapes, foodwebs and provenance - isotope archaeology beyond materials and specialisations
No full textThe diversity of isotope studies in archaeological research is increasing at a rapid pace. Despite being initially limited
to niche roles, applications like dietary reconstruction with stable carbon isotopes, the provenance of raw materials
with lead isotopes or radiocarbon dating became popular over time and are now considered standard methods.
Advancements in instrumentation, new isotope systems, and novel methods of interpreting data opened up new
pathways for reconstructing ancient times. At the same time, standards for working with legacy data and for the
publication of high-quality data become more and more critical because both the amount of both, legacy data
and new analyses, are rapidly growing.
Unfortunately, discussions about good practices remained somewhat limited in isotope archaeology and are either
restricted to a small part of the community and/or are happening in neighboring fields. However, many aspects of
isotope archaeology are independent of specializations and materials. Moreover, everyday business, publication
pressure, and the precariousness of today’s Academia make it hard to find the time for strolling away from one’s
specialization, systematically exploring new research fields, and getting inspired by unconventional methodological
approaches of colleagues.
We, therefore, invite contributions dealing with the application of isotopes to archaeological materials and research
questions in the broadest sense possible. This session aims to offer inspiration from and discussion about the work of
colleagues you otherwise might only come across by chance and to provide a forum for exchange beyond the
borders of specializations and materials
Life in the cradle of Civilization: preliminary results from an isotopic study on human and animal remains to explore mobility at Abu Tbeirah (Iraq)
No full textAbu Tbeirah is an Early Dynastic Sumerian site dated to the second half of III Millennium BC, located about 15 Km NE of Ur (Nasiriya, Dhi Qar province, Southern Iraq). As suggested by cuneiform tablets, Southern Mesopotamia was characterised by an exchange of goods both within and outside the alluvial plain. The archaeological evidence suggests that mobility was not only a lower-class prerogative but it also involved higher-class individuals. Since 2012, Abu Tbeirah has been subject to excavation by an Iraqi-Italian archaeological mission, the f irst foreign mission allowed to enter Iraq after the Gulf War. The soil in this region exhibits high salinity, and archaeological layers feature bituminous surfacings, typical of the Fertile Crescent. For these reasons, bones are prone to taphonomical phenomena bringing the alteration of collagen. Enamel, being substantially less prone to diagenesis, emerges as a reliable source for isotopic analysis. Despite indirect evidence depicting human mobility in Southern Mesopotamia, systematic direct investigations, such as isotope analysis, have been limited. Only one study applied 87Sr/86Sr isotope to analyse two individuals from the royal cemetery of Ur but with low resolution, another study employing 87Sr/86Sr and 18O/16O (δ ‰) focused on cattle from the same cemetery. In light of these challenges, we employ a multi-isotopic approach, including isotopic proxies such as 18O/16O (δ ‰) and 87Sr/86Sr to investigate potential non locality phenomena and different types of herd and animal management using tooth enamel. These represent the first multi-isotopic approach inquiring about human mobility in an archaeological site from southern Mesopotamia. Results show a great homogeneity in the values of humans and a greater variability in animal data
Diet in high mediaeval florence through stable isotope analysis of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur
Full text linkIn this paper, we aim to reconstruct the dietary habits of supposedly lower rank nobles or middle-class High Middle Ages individuals recovered from the cloister arcade of San Pier Scheraggio within the Uffizi Museum complex in Florence, Italy. Notably, the High Middle Ages was a period of cultural and social changes, which is partly reflected in the dietary habits, as suggested by historical sources. Here we apply stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis on humans (n = 34) and animals (n = 13) from San Pier Scheraggio to directly investigate food consumption in this peculiar assemblage. The diet of human individuals was based on terrestrial C3 sources without clear contribution of marine fish (δ13C mean and 1SD: −19.5 ± 0.7 ‰; δ15N mean and 1SD: 9.6 ± 0.4 ‰; δ34S values are mean and 1SD: 7.6 ± 1.2 ‰). The comparison with animal and human samples from other Italian Middle Ages contexts shows that the overall diet of the population buried at San Pier Scheraggio is in line with that of other mediaeval communities in Italy, although with a generally higher contribution of terrestrial animal products. Our data seem to suggest that at the site there was no dietary differentiation concerning age at death or biological sex of the individuals. Some differences, however, can be outlined, for example, in the contribution of C4 crops. In addition to this, we identify two individuals as possible non-locals
Diet and mobility in Medieval Florence: a multi-isotopic approach
No full textWe have employed a multi-isotopic approach (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S), for the first time in high medieval Italy, with the aim of reconstructing possible mobility patterns and diet of a population from Florence (11th-13th century CE). The individuals were recovered from the Uffizi complex in the cloister arcade of the former church of San Pier Scheraggio. The type of burial and its position in the church suggests the individuals had a relevant social status. Historical sources suggest that between the Early and Late Middle Ages, is evident an increasing disparity between social classes often resulted in the differential consumption of particular cereals and meats. During this period the Church’s influence became more severe, also for what concerns diet. This is reflected in the imposition of fish in substitution for meat on several days per year. Regarding mobility, no isotopic studies have focused on medieval Tuscany. There needs to be more direct evidence that inquires into the diet of medieval Florence. All of this highlights the necessity for an isotopic study. Our analysis suggests that the dietary patterns of the population buried at San Pier Scheraggio are consistent with those observed in other medieval communities in Italy. However, our results reveal a higher proportion of animal products in this population’s diet than in other groups. Our results also show that, at least in our samples, during medieval times in Florence, there were no dietary differences in relation to age or sex. Ultimately, thanks to the sulphur isotopes it was possible to propose mobility for at least one individual buried at the site
Shedding light on the Dark Ages: reconstructing dietary habits and mobility phenomena in Medieval Florence using a multi-isotopic approach
No full textHere we aim to reconstruct dietary habits and possible mobility phenomena of individuals recovered from the cloister arcade of San Pier Scheraggio in Florence (11th – 13th century CE) inside the Uffizi complex. To do so, we apply a multi-isotopic approach that combines δ13C, δ15N and δ34S used, to our knowledge, for the first time in high/late medieval Italy.
Historical sources suggest that between the Early and Late Middle Ages there was a shift in dietary habits driven by the church. In particular, fish became more important, followed by an increased use of C4 plants and a decreased use of animal products in relation to the social class. The evidence however is limited and mainly based on historical reports and archaeobotanical remains, with a lack of isotopic studies investigating mobility in Tuscany in this period. Hence, there is still the necessity to have direct evidence of the population’s food habits and mobility phenomena. This can be obtained thanks to the isotopic analysis of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur in bone collagen.
The overall diet of the population buried at San Pier Scheraggio is in line with that of other Medieval communities from Italy, although with a higher contribution of animal products. We suggest that in Florence there were no dietary differentiations in relation to age or sex. However some differences can be outlined, particularly in the consumption of C4 crops, possibly in relation to the status of the individuals. Although the limited sample size, we could identify at least one individual with a statistically different δ34S value, which could be interpreted as non-local.
In general, this study is helping to shed new light on the life of possibly middle/high-status individuals that were given the privilege of being buried in the cloister arcade
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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