Triple sulfur-oxygen-strontium isotopes probabilistic geographic assignment of archaeological remains using a novel sulfur isoscape of western Europe

PLoS One. 2021 May 5;16(5):e0250383. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250383. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Sulfur isotope composition of organic tissues is a commonly used tool for gathering information about provenance and diet in archaeology and paleoecology. However, the lack of maps predicting sulfur isotope variations on the landscape limits the possibility to use this isotopic system in quantitative geographic assignments. We compiled a database of 2,680 sulfur isotope analyses in the collagen of archaeological human and animal teeth from 221 individual locations across Western Europe. We used this isotopic compilation and remote sensing data to apply a multivariate machine-learning regression, and to predict sulfur isotope variations across Western Europe. The resulting model shows that sulfur isotope patterns are highly predictable, with 65% of sulfur isotope variations explained using only 4 variables representing marine sulfate deposition and local geological conditions. We used this novel sulfur isoscape and existing strontium and oxygen isoscapes of Western Europe to apply triple isotopes continuous-surface probabilistic geographic assignments to assess the origin of a series of teeth from local animals and humans from Brittany. We accurately and precisely constrained the origin of these individuals to limited regions of Brittany. This approach is broadly transferable to studies in archaeology and paleoecology as illustrated in a companion paper (Colleter et al. 2021).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Archaeology*
  • Europe
  • Geography
  • Oxygen Isotopes / analysis*
  • Strontium Isotopes / analysis*
  • Sulfur Isotopes / analysis*

Substances

  • Oxygen Isotopes
  • Strontium Isotopes
  • Sulfur Isotopes

Grants and funding

Salary support for Manuel Trost was provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) PALEODIET (Project 378496604) and by the European Research Council (ERC) ARCHEIS (grant 803676) project for Klervia Jaouen. This work was also supported in part by National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant RGPIN-2019-05709 to Clement Bataille.