Bioarch

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What Isotopes can you analyse from Collagen
(Collagen) Carbon and Nitrogen
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What Isotope can not be analysed through Bioapatite
Nitrogen
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what is the range that the C:N ratio should fall between to ensure collagen has not denatured
2.9-3.5
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what is the percentage of organic and inorganic material in bone
25% Organic 75% Inorganic
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Different bones will have a different rate of remodelling. They will therefore give you a different snapshot of time. How long does a femur take to remodel?
+10 years
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Different bones will have a different rate of remodelling. They will therefore give you a different snapshot of time. How long do ribs take to remodel?
2-5 years
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Within a bone, there are two types of bone material with slower and faster turnover rates which is which?
Cortical Bone = slower turnover, Cancellous Bone = faster turnover
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What is Enamel?
an inorganic bioapatite
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which material tells you about the whole diet, not just the protein?
Enamel
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can you use enamel to analyse Nitrogen
No
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which is more stable and open to degradation?
Enamel
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Is Dentine organic or inorganic
Organic (Collagen)
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what can be analysed sequentially?
Both
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What ia RuBisCO?
It discriminates against 13C during photosynthesis
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How much does RuBisCO discriminate against 13C during photosynthesis in a C3 plant?
27%o
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C3 plants have a very specific d13C value. why?
Because of RuBisCO's distinct discrimination against the heavy Isotopes
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C4 plants have a more positive d13C value. why?
there is less discrimination of the heavy isotope by RuBisCO
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What is the offset between plant and enamel d13C (enrichment in the tissue)
14%o
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d13C values in C3 plants are usually between...
-34 and -22 (per mil)
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d13C values in C4 plants are usually between
-14 and -9 (per mil)
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the source of carbon is different in a marine system. d13C values tend to be very similar to the values of
C4 plants
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Where does the Carbon come from in marine plants
the water and DIC (dissolved organic carbon)
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Consumption of maize in North America (case study) where archaeology detected evidence of maize much earlier than carbon isotopes was written by
Lee-Thorpe 2008
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in the Lee-Thorpe 2008 report on the consumption of maize in North America why could the contribution of maize not be detected in the diet with carbon isotopes?
Authors tested collagen which only tracks the protein contribution of your diet. You would have to eat A LOT of maize for it to show up as a major protein contributor
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there are a lot of things that can alter the nitrogen content of plants... the soil it was grown in, the type of plant, water stress, bacteria, and ...
manuring
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there are a lot of things that can alter the nitrogen content of plants... the soil it was grown in, the type of plant, manuring, bacteria, and ...
water stress
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which plant will have a d15N value around 3%o lower than most other plants
Legumes
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why do legumes have a low d15N value
because they have the ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere
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there is a stepwise 15N enrichment with each trophic level how much does it generally go up by
3%o
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As you travel up the trophic levels carbon will also be enriched by around...
1%o
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why do aquatic systems have higher 15N enrichment
Aquatic systems have a much longer food chain
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There is a method for assessing the proportion of animal protein in an individual's diet through Nitrogen isotopes. Using the standard model, what is the d15N difference between a 100% herbivore diet and a 100% carnivore diet?
4 %o
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who published the diet modelling paper testing the standard model of adding 4%o to the local herbivore diet by creating a cereal model, a pulse model, and a cereal/pulse model at Vaihingen?
Fraser et al. 2013
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why is the model for estimating meat contribution to the diet using Nitrogen flawed
Plants can be hugely variable in 15N. this will have a big effect. also everything will have a range. percentage of meat in a diets protein cannot be given an exact figure along one straight line.
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Traditionally, Marine fish display...
High d15N values and High d13C values
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There is a much wider range of isotopic compositions in freshwater fish than previously imagined, but traditionally, Freshwater fish display...
High d15N values and Lower d13C values
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Many different things can effect the freshwater values... which is all correct?
Proximity to shore, seasonality, behavioural biology of the fish, Availibility of oxygen, climate change, Alkine conditions, Nutrient loading (Firtilisers or deforestation), depth
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Descreet changes in isotopic signal of freshwater consumption can help us understand past societies. Whats the main thing it can indicate
Technology
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what does CSIA-AA stand for
Compound Specific Isotope Analysis - Amino Acids
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there was a sharp shift in diet at the beginning of the British Neolithic from marine to a terrestrial based diet (identified using only Carbon isotope analysis). who published the paper?
Richards et al. 2003
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average d13C of a 100% marine fish consumer
-12 ±1%o
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average d13C of a 100% terrestrial food consumer (C3)
-20 ±1%o
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according to Richards et al. 2003 when is there a sharp change in British diet from Marine foods to a 100% terrestrial Diet?
5,200 BP
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what happens with diet in Shetland at the beginning of the Neolithic
Marine foods were used as a supplementary resource during times of famine
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who wrote the paper 'Strategic and Sporadic Marine Consumption at the Onset of the Neolithic'
Mongomery et al. 2013
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how did Mongomery et al. 2013 identify sporadic supplementary consumption of marine food in the Neolithic of Shetland
Incremental analysis of tooth collagen (Dentine)
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How does Nitrogen allow you to understand weaning
A child goes up a trophic level while consuming a mothers breast milk
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How is it best to track the age a child stops weaning
Incremental sampling of dentine
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why is it important to understand weaning in the past
it will have an impact on demographic factors such as fertility rate and child mortality rate
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who published the paper titled' Infant and childhood diet in Neolithic Spain'
Fernández-Crespo et al. 2018
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Using serial Microsampling of dentine, Fernández-Crespo et al. 2018 discover what ... is happening in Neolithic spain
Males are being weaned much earlier than Females
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Males and Females are being weaned at different times in Neolithic spain. Is there a difference after weaning is complete after 4 years?
Females display lower d13C and d15N values indicating they had less access to dietary Protein
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which authors published a study which used rib collagen to track weanig in Anglo-Saxon Britain
Haydock et al. 2013
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If you are going to use bone collagen to track weaning why use the ribs
they have a faster bone turnover rate
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why should we not look at children who have died to assess average weaning times
The osteological Paradox
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Why would you look at a specific site for palaeoenvironment reconstruction
you get a snapshot of a particular time and place directly experienced by those occupying the site
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If you want to analyse a sequence as opposed to a site what data does an archaeologist usually look to
Cores (Ice, Marine, Lake)
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with palaeoenvironment reconstruction what can we tell about climate? Temperature, Precipitation, seasonality, and...
Aridity
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with palaeoenvironment reconstruction what can we tell about climate? Temperature, Precipitation, seasonality, aridity and...
Wind
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Who pioneered studies of Oxygen to understand palaeoclimate
Dansgaard 1964
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What is the primary source for understanding Oxygen Isotopes
Pederzani and Britton 2019
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What are the three things that effect Fractionation of Oxygen Isotopes
Continentality, Seasonality (Temperature), Altitude
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if it is hotter there is...
Higher d18O values
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18O wants to be...
stable
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evaporation will preferentially select the
Lighter isotopes (16O)
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Precipitation will preferentially select the
Heavier Isotope (18O)
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The further inland the...
Lower the d18O value
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Oxygen isotopes directly reflect local temperature and continental environments. why?
due to the mechanisms involved in evaporation and condensation
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the higher the temperature the
higher the d18O values
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higher temperatures will cause
a higher number of 18O isotopes to evaporate
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why does precipitation reflect ground water and not cloud temperature
at they leave the cloud they re-equilibrate with the surrounding atmosphere
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why can you track altitude and latitude with oxygen isotopes
they are directly related to temperature. They higher the altitude the colder the temperature and the more negative the d18O. The further from the equator it is the colder it is and the more negative the d18O.
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The higher the temperature the
less negative the d18O
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Why can Oxygen isotopes give you an indication about continentality?
the further from the sea the lower the d18O values
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How can you date Ice cores
You can count the rings or locate layers of tephra
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why is there a problem with counting rings with ice cores
the older ice layers can be more compact and in warm periods the ice may melt and leave no trace.
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ice cores have revolutionised our understanding of global climate. Why?
they are very effective at giving high definition long term global sequences
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Ice cores are great for
the big picture
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what do we record in Marine cores
Records the d18O values in foraminifera which reflect sea surface temperature
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When recording Foraminifera the less negative the d18O values, the ...
lower the temperature
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why are marine cores good at tracking Ice ages
when there are large Ice sheets covering the surface of the ocean, they will absorb a lot of the 18O isotopes, leaving the rest of the ocean depleted in 18O.
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what warm and cold phases in the earth's cycle have marine cores recorded
Marine Isotope Stages (MIS)
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Ice cores and marine Cores are also good at identifying
Dansgaard-Oeschger events
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Why are lake sediments harder to deal with
there are a lot more contributing factors to take into account. you need to have a lot of prior knowledge about the processes of that specific lake
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where do you record secondary cave carbonates
Speleothems
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Caves are protected environments. What effect will this have
the climate fluctuations will be dulled
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Speleothems are made up of drip water from the cave. Why do you need to have a good understanding of the way that water travels through the cave
while water will represent temperature, It will also be affected by infiltration through the earth, evaporation and mixing. The way that water travels through a cave is very dependent.
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why can tree ring analysis of oxygen isotopes be complicated
there are a lot of processes involved in how a tree deals with oxygen. It will absorb it through groundwater, and precipitation. It will also evaporate water during evapotranspiration
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When an animal is not an obligate drinker its oxygen isotope values will tend to reflect other environmental factors related to plant activity (if its a herbivore) this can give an indication about...
relative humidity
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which plant will give an 3%o enriched carbon isotope value
Lichen
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Which Isotope can give you an indication about canopy cover
Carbon
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which are the best animals to use to record local temperature
Obligate drinkers
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What Isotope can not be analysed through Bioapatite

Back

Nitrogen

Card 3

Front

what is the range that the C:N ratio should fall between to ensure collagen has not denatured

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what is the percentage of organic and inorganic material in bone

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Different bones will have a different rate of remodelling. They will therefore give you a different snapshot of time. How long does a femur take to remodel?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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