lama guanicoe bone collagen stable isotope c and n indicate climatic and ecological variation during holocene in northwest patagonia abstract this paper explores how significant are the ecological and climatic variables to influence the stable isotopes of guanacos lama guanicoe bone collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios are assumed as a macro regional average value in west argentina mostly as a baseline to model archaeological human diet if stable isotopes on mammals reflex ecology and climate we need to know how those variables influence mammals bone stable isotope ratio this paper analyses the 13c 12c and 15 n 14n ratio on bone collagen on 122 guanacos from northwest patagonia during the holocene the results confirm significant variation in both isotopes between monte and andean patagonian specimens guanacos from monte shows higher 13c and 15n than those from andean patagonian temporal trends indicate variation through holocene but this variation is not spatially homogeneous in this paper we suggest that medieval climatic anomaly had stronger effect in monte desert than in patagonia desert generating driest and or hottest conditions between 1250 and 600 years bp those variations need to be considered to reconstruct human diet at least during the second part of the holocene

u series dating of collagen a step toward direct u series dating of fossil bone abstract fossil bones are often the only material that may be dated by numerical methods a commonly accepted method of bone dating is the radiocarbon method but radiocarbon dating is limited to material younger than 40 60 ka to date direct dating of bone samples by u series methods has not been successful because of post depositional uranium uptake this paper tests the use of u series dating of bones in a new way by dating the collagen extracted from fossil bones low uranium content in collagen extracted from recent and fossil bones suggests that no uranium accumulates in this bone phase ratios of c n commonly used as an indicator of bone preservation were also measured here modern bones and bone collagen showed 230 th activity at background levels confirming their recent age u series and radiocarbon methods applied to collagen extracted from fossil bone of ursus spelaeus collected in magurska cave tatra mts poland gave consistent results analyses of collagen extracted from bones collected in bi nik cave krakow wielun upland poland indicate that there is a high risk of contamination by modern material especially when working with large samples close to the dating method limit

stable isotope analysis of archaeological faunal remains from southern ontario abstract bone collagen from animals consumed by humans during the early historic period in southern ontario was analysed for stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen previous research on stable isotopes for the reconstruction of human paleodiet has focused on determination of c 3 versus c 4 plants in the diet reliance on marine versus terrestrial resources and differentiation of trophic level results of this study indicate that of the animals consumed by humans only domestic dogs and one species of fish had 13 c values heavy enough to cause an increase in human 13 c values nitrogen isotope results show that great lakes fish have very high 15 n values this explains in part the high 15 n values observed in prehistoric and early historic humans from ontario the contribution of animal protein to human stable isotope values has important implications for the interpretation of paleodiet studies as applied to prehistoric adaptation

pre screening techniques for identification of samples suitable for radiocarbon dating of poorly preserved bones under certain environmental conditions post depositional diagenetic loss of bone collagen can severely reduce the number of bones from a particular archaeological site that are suitable for stable isotopic analysis or radiocarbon dating this study examined nearly 300 bones from 12 archaeological sites across southern england known to yield poor or variable preservation to try to identify one or more pre screening technique s that would indicate suitable collagen preservation for radiocarbon dating the most reliable method was shown to be the percent nitrogen n of whole bone powder which has an 84 chance of successfully predicting whether or not a bone will yield sufficient i e 1 weight collagen for dating

reassessing the diet of upper palaeolithic humans from gough s cave and sun hole cheddar gorge somerset uk richards et al 2000 reconstructed the diet of the human remains found in gough s and sun hole cave through isotope analysis they concluded that these people consumed an entirely terrestrial based diet their reconstruction was based upon comparison of the results from human bones with those from a very small number of associated animals the diets of the gough s and sun hole cave human were different from the other six upper palaeolithic humans from the british isles for which dietary information has been obtained through isotope analysis the work of richards et al 2000 suggests that they were the only ones for whom marine or freshwater resources did not play a significant role in their diets we test this through further analyses of faunal remains from gough s cave sun hole and other contemporary sites kent s cavern aveline s hole kendrick s cave despite the limited faunal sample the original palaeodietary reconstruction is broadly consistent with our findings the isotope values of the main protein sources consumed by the humans from both sites are consistent with those of red deer and bovines and for a single individual with that of horse and red deer reindeer was postulated in the original reconstruction as a potential food source but this seems very unlikely based on our isotope reconstruction and the archaeological remains

isotopic analysis of equid teeth from wonderwerk cave northern cape province south africa abstract stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios have been determined from equid teeth from a well dated sequence of holocene deposits at wonderwerk cave situated in a summer rainfall area of the northern cape province of south africa stable carbon isotope ratios confirm the existence of a c 4 grassland habitat throughout the holocene nitrogen isotope ratios are assessed in relation to data from modern equid samples from southern africa temporal variability in both carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of holocene equid samples from wonderwerk appears to be analogous to spatial variability of such ratios determined for faunal samples from modern environments relationships between isotope ratios and data from modern environments are used to obtain rainfall indices

hand held raman spectroscopy as a pre screening tool for archaeological bone abstract bone collagen is the required substrate for a variety of archaeometric analyses including radiocarbon dating stable isotope analysis proteomics and ancient dna sampling of bone for such analyses is however a destructive process and biomolecular extraction is a time labor and capital intensive process as such the ability to pre screen bone for potential collagen level in the field or in remote museums storage repositories or other deployed and austere environments for archaeological and forensic purposes is highly desirable building on previous assessments of hand held spectroscopic tools and several recent bench top raman studies and using a robust selection of well characterized ancient bone samples it is demonstrated here that rapid 30 s non destructive assessment by means of 1064 nm raman spectroscopy can provide a field deployable means by which to quantify bone collagen content specifically it was found that the 1450 cm 1 to 960 cm 1 peak height ratio can provide quantitative estimates of bone collagen content with an error of 2 8 wt and those samples with ratios of greater than 0 1 are uniformly suitable for analysis hand held raman spectroscopic technology has therefore evolved to the point where field deployment by archaeologists and forensic scientists would be both justified and worthwhile

late quaternary chronology and extinction of north american giant short faced bears arctodus simus abstract eight new ams radiocarbon dates on giant short faced bears arctodus simus from the contiguous united states are reported and previously published dates from across north america are reviewed and discussed the dates deemed to be most reliable are on purified collagen samples and these serve as the basis for interpreting the late pleistocene chronology and extinction of the species the oldest acceptable radiocarbon date from the lower forty eight states is 34 080 480 bp from island ford cave virginia and the youngest is the previously reported 9630 60 bp date from bonner springs kansas an additional date of 10 921 50 bp on the same kansas specimen indicates a precision problem in the age of this individual regardless of this anomaly new ams dates of 10 800 11 000 bp on a simus confirm that it existed up to the pleistocene holocene transition and may have been one of the last megafaunal species to go extinct in north america further these dates solidify the co existence of these massive bears with humans of the clovis cultural complex

molecular preservation and crystallographic alterations in a weathering sequence of wildebeest bones abstract the changes that occur in bone after the death of an animal are important because they control whether the bone becomes a fossil and what information is retained concerning the original biology of the animal taphonomic study of two 10 year longitudinal samples of wildebeest bones subjected to natural weathering in amboseli park kenya provides evidence for progressive change in both the organic and inorganic components of mammalian bone these changes correspond to weathering stages described on macroscopic structural features the bone samples were subjected to well established techniques of protein extraction from mineralized tissue protein identification by gel electrophoresis and reactivity to antibodies of noncollagenous proteins as well as x ray defractometry of the mineral component both adult and juvenile bones show progressive increase in hydroxyapatite crystal size and increased protein degradation over the 10 year period noncollagenous proteins persist at their original molecular weight in diminished amounts relative to modern controls in the study area 10 years or less of natural surface weathering altered the extractability of collagen indicating peptide and crosslinking cleavage in this protein increased hydroxyapatite crystal size may reflect a tendency of crystals to enlarge in situ once the organic matrix begins to breakdown without the addition of external minerals

petrous bone diagenesis a multi analytical approach abstract the discovery of petrous bone as an excellent repository for ancient biomolecules has been a turning point in biomolecular archaeology especially in adna research but excessive and uncontrolled sampling could result in loss of this valuable resource for future research this study reports on the histological optical microscopy physical ftir atr elemental chn and biochemical collagen and dna analysis preservation of 15 human petrous bones spanning from the c 2100 bce to 1850 ce through the combined application of a number of diagenetic parameters general histological index infrared splitting factor carbonate phosphate ratio amide phosphate ratio col wt c n and c n of whole bone and collagen endogenous dna we provide new insights into petrous bone micromorphological characteristics and diagenesis and new evidence to enhance screening practices for adna and collagen analysis

the 29 september 1969 ceres south africa earthquake full waveform moment tensor inversion for point source and kinematic source parameters the ceres earthquake of 29 september 1969 is the largest known earthquake in southern africa digitized analog recordings from worldwide standardized seismographic network stations powell and fries 1964 are used to retrieve the point source moment tensor and the most likely centroid depth of the event using full waveform modeling a scalar seismic moment of 2 2 2 4 1018 n m corresponding to a moment magnitude of 6 2 6 3 is found the analysis confirms the pure strike slip mechanism previously determined from onset polarities by green and bloch 1971 overall good agreement with the fault orientation previously estimated from local aftershock recordings is found the centroid depth can be constrained to be less than 15 km in a second analysis step we use a higher order moment tensor based inversion scheme for simple extended rupture models to constrain the lateral fault dimensions we find rupture propagated unilaterally for 4 7 s from east southwest to west northwest for about 17 km average rupture velocity of about 3 1 km s online material waveform and spectral fits

stable carbon isotope assessment of hunter gatherermobility in prehistoric south australia bone collagen stable carbon isotope values for the inland riverine roonka flat archaeological population of southeastern south australia indicate that prehistoric aboriginal diets were based on local q derived terrestrial foods throughout the late holocene whereas 91 of the sample had values indicative of a predominantly based terrestrial diet 6 13c 20 0 0 n 41 the remaining 9 had values indicating a mixed diet of c and ca derived terrestrial foods and marine foods x 6 16 1 0 n 4 there were no significant differences between mean 6 13c values for adult males adult females and subadults these bone collagen 6 13c values suggest that there was limited hunter gatherer mobility between the inland riverine site and adjacent coastal and arid interior habitats during the late holocene bone collagen stable carbon isotope comparisons with the early holocene roonka flat population could not be made due to extensive collagen degradation in these older interments

isotopic reconstruction of past continental environments abstract vertebrate fossils and continental sediments provide a rich record of variations in the isotopic composition of surface environments to interpret these records a greater understanding of isotopic sources as well as fractionations associated with animal physiology soil geochemistry and diagenesis has been essential tooth enamel and fish otoliths yield subannual records of surface environments whereas soil minerals may integrate signals over many thousands of years carbon isotope variations in fossil vertebrates and soils record changes in the structure of vegetation and the isotope composition and concentration of atmospheric co2 oxygen isotope variations may be indirectly related to climate through reconstruction of the oxygen isotope composition of meteoric water or directly related to temperature through application of oxygen isotope paleothermometry to soil minerals or otoliths in africa nitrogen isotope variations show promise as a proxy for rainfall abundance though the gen

filling the gaps late upper palaeolithic settlement in gvardjilas klde georgia abstract the paper presents the newly established radiocarbon dates of the late upper palaeolithic lup settlement in gvardjilas klde in the imereti region in georgia the analysed samples were collected by stefan krukowski in 1916 during his fieldwork in the cave krukowski identified two separate up cultural horizons the older one was connected with what he called layer 10 and the younger one with layer 11 the obtained radiocarbon dates confirm the results obtained by krukowski the older settlement phase can be dated to 19 7 18 8 ky cal bp while the younger one to 15 8 14 7 ky cal bp the end of human occupation can be linked to the beginning of the holocene interestingly the presented probability density models show that gvardjilas klde was occupied interchangeably with other sites in the region there is no other site in the imereti region with chronology similar to any of the settlement phases in gvardjilas klde the only chronologically corresponding sites are mezmaiskaya cave and badynoko rockshelter in the northern caucasus

variability of bone preservation in a confined environment the case of the catacomb of sts peter and marcellinus rome italy most of the studies investigating the diagenetic trajectory of fossil bones focus on open air sites and very little work have been published in confined environments such as catacombs while the stable thermal history of catacombs should favor bone preservation the accumulation of corpses over a short period of time could favor their destruction the aim of this study is to describe the diagenetic trajectory of 128 human bone samples coming from six different burial chambers of the catacomb of sts peter and marcellinus sspm rome italy a multi proxy approach was undertaken to provide an assessment of the molecular preservation as well as a direct record of the isotopic composition itself collagen yield carbon and nitrogen abundances c n ratio ft ir based collagen and carbonate contents and crystallinity index radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis of bone collagen and carbonate indicate that both the mineral and the organic fractions are impacted by diagenesis to various degrees and that bones originating from the small burial chambers are more affected than those coming from the large ones while some of the bones were strongly recrystallized the impact of bone diagenesis on the stable isotope values of bone carbonate was limited comparison with contemporary sites from the latium showed that conditions prevailing in catacombs seem overall to favor rather than disadvantage bone preservation

co2 forced climate and vegetation instability during late paleozoic deglaciation the late paleozoic deglaciation is the vegetated earth9s only recorded icehouse to greenhouse transition yet the climate dynamics remain enigmatic by using the stable isotopic compositions of soil formed minerals fossil plant matter and shallow water brachiopods we estimated atmospheric partial pressure of carbon dioxide pco2 and tropical marine surface temperatures during this climate transition comparison to southern gondwanan glacial records documents covariance between inferred shifts in pco2 temperature and ice volume consistent with greenhouse gas forcing of climate major restructuring of paleotropical flora in western euramerica occurred in step with climate and pco2 shifts illustrating the biotic impact associated with past co2 forced turnover to a permanent ice free world

palaeoenvironments during the period of the neanderthals settlement in chagyrskaya cave altai mountains russia abstract the altai mountains situated in the middle of asia have been inhabited by human groups since prehistoric times many middle palaeolithic sites open air sites and caves are located in the northwestern part of the altai mountains the uniqueness of this area is in the simultaneous habitation of different human species such as neanderthals sapiens and denisovians the material culture of the altai middle palaeolithic is mostly homogeneous however two caves are distinguished from other sites okladnikov cave and the recently studied chagyrskaya cave located in the charysh river valley palaeolithic assemblages from both caves are comparable with the mousterian industries recorded in certain regions of eurasia and represent a special variant of the altai middle palaeolithic industries known as the sibiryachikha facies anthropological data from these caves suggest that the sibiryachikha variant was associated with neanderthals in this study we reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions of the period of the neanderthals settlement in the northwestern part of the altai mountains based on bioproxies such as pollen records and large mammal remains the time of the neanderthals settlement of chagyrskaya cave is attributed to the termination of mis4 and is characterised by an arid and continental climate dry steppe communities were widespread in the charysh river valley it is possible that the chagyrskaya cave represents a long term hunting camp where butchering and processing of game animals were carried out in the following warmer and more humid period the neanderthals left the cave this was around the same time when anatomically modern humans began appearing in western siberia

preparation and characterization of bone and tooth collagen for isotopic analysis abstract criteria are presented for the identification of diagenetic alteration of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone and tooth collagen prepared by a widely used method measurements of collagen concentrations in tooth and bone atomic c n ratios and carbon and nitrogen concentrations in collagen of 359 historic and prehistoric african humans and modern and prehistoric east african non human mammals are described carbon isotope ratios of collagen lipids from four bones are also presented compared to bone whole teeth have significantly lower collagen concentrations lower carbon and nitrogen concentrations in collagen and similar c n ratios carbon and nitrogen concentrations and c n ratios are relatively constant over a wide range of collagen concentrations however prehistoric specimens with very low collagen concentrations have highly variable c n ratios very low carbon and nitrogen concentrations in collagen and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios unlike collagen at the transition from well preserved to poorly preserved collagen the most reliable indicator of collagen preservation is the concentration of carbon and nitrogen in collagen concentrations of c and n drop abruptly by an order of magnitude at this transition point these attributes provide simple criteria for assessing sample quality since collagen preservation can vary greatly within prehistoric sites these attributes should be reported for each specimen use of purification procedures that remove acid and base soluble contaminants and particulate matter carbonates fulvic acids lipids humic acids sediments and rootlets are recommended wider adoption of these procedures would insure comparability of results between laboratories and permit independent and objective evaluation of sample preservation and more precise dietary climatic and habitat interpretations of collagen isotopic analyses

the radiocarbon dating of bone abstract diagenetic changes in bone are liable to cause erroneous radiocarbon dates on bone because of the mixing of sample and environment c atoms they can bring about likewise radiocarbon dating can provide information on the extent of such mixing the processes involved which may mix chemically physically or biologically the c atoms of the sample are outlined and the methods used in practice to reverse this mixing are described the most suitable methods depend on the state of preservation of the bone the type of environment and the radiocarbon content bones are classified according to different categories and the appropriate methods indicated for each category it is clear that the more difficult cases are at present not reliably dated and must await a better understanding of the chemistry of diagenesis

first record of the extinct ground sloth megalonyx jeffersonii xenarthra megalonychidae from new york and contributions to its paleoecology abstract the first record of the jefferson ground sloth megalonyx jeffersonii in new york is reported the specimen consists of a partial synsacrum recovered from a peat deposit near newburgh orange county compared to other synsacra of megalonyx the number of vertebrae is anomalous with one less caudal vertebra than expected stable isotope analysis of the bone shows a 13c value of 20 5 and implies a diet of only c3 plants the specimen has a radiocarbon date of 11 450 55 bp indicating the presence of this taxon in the region immediately prior to the extinction of the north american pleistocene megafauna

rancho la brea stable isotope biogeochemistry and its implications for the palaeoecology of late pleistocene coastal southern california abstract we sampled 143 individuals from rancho la brea rlb large faunal collections for bone collagen stable carbon 13c and nitrogen 15n isotope ratios these collections were recovered from asphalt seeps in the los angeles basin california usa and date from 40 to 12 ka our findings indicate that despite a slight reduction in collagen nitrogen content rlb skeletal remains are relatively well preserved and most yield proteins diagnostic of diet herbivore 13c and 15n values covary with rumination and are consistent with changes in late pleistocene vegetation reconstructed from pollen profiles we find no evidence for reliance on c4 grasses at rlb despite low atmospheric co2 concentrations carnivore 15n values indicate canis dirus smilodon fatalis and panthera leo atrox competed for similar prey sets and were equally reliant on ruminant and nonruminant prey types the 15n values of mammut americanum indicate partial reliance on vegetation with lower 15n values such as nitrogen fixing taxa distinguishing them from the remainder of the study population a comparison of rlb and european faunal 15n values from the late pleistocene suggests that coastal southern california experienced greater aridity

climate and habitat reconstruction using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of collagen in prehistoric herbivore teeth from kenya stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios have been determined for tooth collagen of 27 prehistoric herbivores from a rock shelter in the central rift valley of kenya collagen samples whose isotope ratios were not altered by diagenesis were identified using several analytical methods during the later holocene when the climate was as dry or drier than at present the isotopic compositions of individual animals are similar to those of modern individuals of the same species during the earlier holocene when the climate was wetter than at present the 15n and 13c values are lower than those for their modern counterparts when diagenetic factors can be discounted and adequate modern comparative data are available stable isotope analysis of herbivore teeth and bones can be used to evaluate prehistoric climate and habitat conditions

environmental influences on rabbit and hare bone isotope abundances implications for paleoenvironmental research abstract palaeoclimatological and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions based on stable isotope analysis of mammalian bone require an understanding of the behavior and physiology of the organism and mandate taxon specific considerations this study assesses the utility of using bone tissue of leporids cottontail rabbits sylvilagus sp and hares lepus sp as paleoenvironmental proxies leporids are globally widespread and commonly found in many archaeological middens in north america with material available in many museum collections we isolated and analyzed bone collagen and carbonate from 135 modern specimens from mexico and southern united states for light element stable isotope values of oxygen nitrogen and carbon stable isotope values were assessed with local ecoregion types for each specimen location and interpolated precipitation humidity and temperature variables reflecting the water acquisition strategies of leporids our results show significant negative correlations of bone 18o values with mean annual precipitation and with relative humidity contrary to expectations neither 13c nor 15n values are strong predictors of moisture variables which may be due to micro scale topographic and environmental variation and selective feeding strategies significant positive correlations are observed for 13c and 15n values with temperature variables our study increases our ability to model past environmental landscapes by considering how behavior ecology and environment interact to result in measured stable isotope values in leporid bones

late pleistocene ecological environmental and climatic reconstruction based on megafauna stable isotopes from northwestern chilean patagonia abstract stable isotope analyses have been performed on the bioapatite 13 c 18 o and collagen 13 c 15 n of four late pleistocene south american megafaunal taxa notiomastodon platensis equus andium cf hemiauchenia paradoxa and xenarthra indet to evaluate paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental conditions as well as paleoecological features of this time period the analyzed megafauna was found at several locations in the northwestern chilean patagonia 38 42 s 74 71 w the bioapatite 13 c values indicated the presence of c 3 vegetation ranging from forestal to woodland areas the collagen 15 n values pointed to temperate and humid ecosystems and to the consumption of shrubs trees grasses and sedges mean annual temperatures estimated from bioapatite 18 o po4 values show a similarity to modern temperatures and suggested that the megafauna under study may have lived during warm stages interstadials of the late pleistocene when comparing our results with those obtained from other south american regions we find that the diet of this particular chilean megafauna appears to have been more influenced by resource availability than by the potential dietary range of the taxa

unravelling the late pleistocene habitat of the southernmost woolly mammoths in europe abstract the southernmost record of woolly mammoths mammuthus primigenius in europe has been found in late pleistocene sediments from el padul peat bog in the granada basin southern spain in this paper we discuss a plausible habitat based on stable isotopic analyses of these specimens dated 40 30 cal ky bp probably corresponding with the beginning of heinrich stadial 4 hs4 and the end of heinrich stadial 3 hs3 woolly mammoth remains preserve an accurate isotopic register of past climatic conditions because they needed to ingest large amount of resources daily water and fresh food whose isotopic signature influenced by the environmental conditions was recorded in their tissues the 18 o w values of the past meteoric waters 5 4 to 6 7 vs v smow calculated from the isotopic composition of teeth enamel suggest moderate temperatures in comparison with those of similar age recovered in central and northern europe due to its geographic position in southern europe our samples recorded the highest 18 o w values of past meteoric waters deduced from mammoth remains in europe the difference between these values and those of 18 o w of current mean annual precipitation are minimal contrasting with those of higher latitudes during the end of the last glaciation 50 to 20 cal ky bp the isotopic values of nitrogen 10 1 to 13 2 vs air and carbon 20 7 to 21 8 vs v pdb of collagen show a dry habitat which occasionally could have been extreme taken as a whole the isotopic results suggest that the studied specimens lived in a very dry steppic area with moderately cold conditions contrasting with the wet environment of el padul peat bog and its colder temperatures due to the influence of glacial conditions of the sierra nevada the highest peninsular mountain range the described habitat may be sited in a more westerly position than the el padul peat bog and it was warmer and drier than those of contemporaneous european woolly mammoths

latest pleistocene paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the swabian jura southwestern germany evidence from stable isotope analysis and micromammal remains abstract paleoenvironmental and climatic reconstructions are reported for latest pleistocene paleolithic contexts from the swabian jura of southwestern germany in particular we focus on the late glacial interval 18 000 to 11 600 cal yr bp using faunal remains from langmahdhalde a recently excavated late magdalenian site in the lone valley we use two different proxies for reconstruction 1 stable isotope analysis 13c and 15n of bone collagen from reindeer rangifer tarandus and horse equus ferus and 2 the application of a bioclimatic model to the micromammal assemblage from the site we use these results to discuss the environmental context of magdalenian hunter gatherers in the lone valley and argue that although they generally lived in tundra environments their landscape was heterogeneous and likely had pockets of trees and or denser vegetation our study documents warmer winter temperatures increased precipitation and longer vegetative activity periods than those of modern tundra environments

carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of northwest european horse bone and tooth collagen 40 000 bp present palaeoclimatic interpretations abstract carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of bone and tooth dentine collagen from 142 horses were analysed to consider the potential of isotopic analysis of faunal remains as a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic proxy a general trend through time towards lighter 13 c values was observed but with an obvious depletion at the late glacial holocene transition horse 13 c values appear to track plant 13 c although phenomenon such as the canopy effect may influence faunal 13 c values we believe that the influence on plants of increasing atmospheric co 2 is the primary factor in the change in faunal 13 c values at the late glacial holocene transition a post glacial depletion in horse 15 n values is observed in areas proximal to glacial retreat although no data is available in these areas during the last glacial maximum horse 15 n values are presumed to reflect plant 15 n values depleted plant nitrogen may be attributed to a number of factors e g water availability temperature cycling of nitrogen in the soil soil nutrient availability especially phosphorus in the post glacial period and the type of mycorrhizal associations formed with plant these effects may be interrelated and be linked such that a positive feedback can give a non linear response to a single parameter

carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of bone collagen of large herbivores from the late pleistocene kiputz ix cave site gipuzkoa north iberian peninsula for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction abstract the kiputz ix site records climatic variations during the late pleistocene since it represents a continuous time interval record ca 25 13 ka cal bp carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from the bone collagen of herbivores rangifer tarandus cervus elaphus and bison priscus were analysed to establish environmental and climatic conditions in the northern iberian peninsula faunal distribution over time represents a response to climatic variations showing inverse patterns with reindeer and bison profusion during cold periods and red deer abundance during warmer times the increase in reindeer 15 n values during stadial gs 2 appears to be greater in magnitude than in continental europe and reflects drier warmer climatic conditions the 13 c values of red deer suggest more humid environmental conditions south of the pyrenees during interstadial gs 1 the climatic conditions of southern pyrenees appear to be analogous to that of northern pyrenees regions

palaeoenvironmental and chronological investigations of the magdalenian sites of goyet cave and trou de chaleux belgium via stable isotope and radiocarbon analyses of horse skeletal remains abstract trou de chaleux and goyet are caves situated less than 30 km apart in belgium that contain stratified magdalenian artefacts and butchered faunal remains published radiocarbon dates suggest that both sites were contemporaneously occupied during to the late glacial interstadial it has previously been suggested that the trou de chaleux late glacial faunal remains might be slightly older than those at goyet cave and that trou de chaleux has two phases of occupation during the late glacial interstadial however the limited number of radiocarbon dates currently available makes it impossible to determine whether the sites are truly contemporaneous and the assessment of their absolute chronologies is complicated by a plateau in the calibration curve in this paper bone collagen 13 c and 15 n signatures of horse bones from the two sites are used to reconstruct local palaeoenvironments we hypothesise that if occupations at the two sites were contemporaneous the horse collagen 13 c and 15 n isotope signatures from both sites will be similar since comparable carbon and nitrogen isotopic values would reflect similar diets ecologies and environments to provide clear dating parameters new ams radiocarbon determinations are also presented results show that horse collagen 13 c and 15 n isotope signatures at the two sites are different indicating that the populations were not subject to similar diets ecologies and environments the new radiocarbon dates confirm that the horse bones from trou de chaleux date to the late glacial interstadial but they also show that in goyet cave horizons 1 and 2 older horse remains dating to ca 32 000 27 000 14 c yr bp are mixed with late glacial horse remains the 15 n values of the goyet cave horse bones radiocarbon dated to the pleniglacial are substantially higher than those that have late glacial radiocarbon dates therefore we now hypothesise that the majority of the horse bones isotopically analysed from goyet cave horizon 1 are pleniglacial in age statistical analysis of the radiocarbon dates indicates that the late glacial occupation at the two sites was contemporaneous and that while there may appear to be two phases of occupation at trou de chaleux this may be an artefact of the radiocarbon calibration curve