The influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition. 
The isotopic composition of the nitrogen in an animal reflects the nitrogen isotopic composition of its diet. The δ^(15)N values of the whole bodies of animals are usually more positive than those of their diets. Different individuals of a species raised on the same diet can have significantly different δ^(15)N values. The variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different species raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets. Different tissues of mice are also enriched in ^(15)N relative to the diet, with the difference between the δ^(15)N values of a tissue and the diet depending on both the kind of tissue and the diet involved. The δ^(15)N values of collagen and chitin, biochemical components that are often preserved in fossil animal remains, are also related to the δ^(15)N value of the diet. 
The dependence of the δ^(15)N values of whole animals and their tissues and biochemical components on the δ^(15)N value of diet indicates that the isotopic composition of animal nitrogen can be used to obtain information about an animal's diet if its potential food sources had different δ^(15)N values. The nitrogen isotopic method of dietary analysis probably can be used to estimate the relative use of legumes vs non-legumes or of aquatic vs terrestrial organisms as food sources for extant and fossil animals. However, the method probably will not be applicable in those modern ecosystems in which the use of chemical fertilizers has influenced the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in food sources. 
The isotopic method of dietary analysis was used to reconstruct changes in the diet of the human population that occupied the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico over a 7000 yr span. Variations in the δ^(15)C and δ^(15)N values of bone collagen suggest that C_4 and/or CAM plants (presumably mostly corn) and legumes (presumably mostly beans) were introduced into the diet much earlier than suggested by conventional archaeological analysis.

Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals

Ancient DNA research is revealing a human history far more complex than that inferred from parsimonious models based on modern DNA. Here, we review some of the key events in the peopling of the world in the light of the findings of work on ancient DNA.

/pdf/ancient-dna-and-the-rewriting-of-human-history-be-sparing-3gvlgy8a8v.pdf

Ancient DNA and the rewriting of human history: be sparing with Occam's razor.

Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report a genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide ancient DNA from Anatolian Neolithic farmers, whose genetic material we obtained by extracting from petrous bones, and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers. We also report a transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5600 and 300 bc, which allows us to identify admixture into the steppe from at least two external sources. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.

/pdf/genome-wide-patterns-of-selection-in-230-ancient-eurasians-40e8sr277d.pdf

Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians

Differential fractionation of stable isotopes of carbon during photosynthesis causes C 4 plants and C3 plants to have distinct carbon-isotope signatures. In addition, marine C 3 plants have stable-isotope ratios of carbon that are intermediate between C4 and terrestrial C3 plants. The direct incorporation of the carbon-isotope ratio ( 13 C/ 12 C) of plants into consumers' tissues makes this ratio useful in studies of animal ecology. The heavy isotope of nitrogen ( 15 N) is preferentially incorporated into the tissues of the consumer from the diet, which results in a systematic enrichment in nitrogen-isotope ratio ( 15 N/ 14 N) with each trophic level. Consequently, stable isotopes of nitrogen have been used pri- marily to assess position in food chains. The literature pertaining to the use of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in animal trophic ecology was reviewed. Data from 102 studies that reported stable-isotope ratios of carbon and (or) nitrogen of wild birds and (or) mammals were compiled and analyzed relative to diet, latitude, body size, and habitat moisture. These analyses supported the predicted relationships among trophic groups. Carbon-isotope ratios differed among species that relied on C3 ,C 4, and marine food chains. Likewise, nitrogen-isotope ratios were enriched in terres- trial carnivorous mammals relative to terrestrial herbivorous mammals. Also, marine carnivores that ate vertebrates had nitrogen-isotope ratios that were enriched over the ratios of those that ate invertebrates. Data from the literature also indicated that (i) the carbon-isotope ratio of carnivore bone collagen was inversely related to latitude, which was likely the result of an inverse relationship between the proportion of carbon in the food chain that was fixed by C 4 plants and latitude; (ii) seabirds and marine mammals from northern oceans had higher nitrogen-isotope ratios than those from southern oceans; (iii) the nitrogen-isotope ratios of terrestrial mammals that used xeric habitats were higher than the ratios of those that used mesic habitats, indicating that water stress can have important effects on the nitrogen-isotope ratio; (iv) there was no relationship between body mass and nitrogen-isotope ratio for either bone collagen or muscle of carnivores; and (v) there was linear covariation between stable-isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in marine food chains (but not in terrestrial C 3 or C4 food chains), which is likely a product of increases in carbon-isotope ratio with trophic level in marine food chains. Differences in stable-isotope composition among trophic groups were detected despite variation attributable to geographic location, climate, and analytical techniques, indicating that these effects are large and pervasive. Consequently, as knowledge of the distribution of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen increases, they will probably become an increasingly important tool in the study of avian and mammalian trophic ecology. 27 Resume : Le fractionnement differentiel des isotopes stables de carbone durant la photosynthese fait que les plantes C 4 et les plantes C3 ont des signatures d'isotopes de carbone differentes. En outre, chez les plantes C 3 marines, le rapport entre les isotopes stables de carbone est intermediaire entre celui des plantes C 4 et celui des plantes C3 terrestres.

https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/rmrs_2000_kelly_j002.pdf

Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the study of avian and mammalian trophic ecology

Strontium isotope analysis of archaeological skeletons has provided useful and exciting results in archaeology in the last 20 years, particularly by characterizing past human migration and mobility. This review covers the biogeochemical background, including the origin of strontium isotope compositions in rocks, weathering and hydrologic cycles that transport strontium, and biopurification of strontium from to soils, to plants, to animals and finally into the human skeleton, which is subject to diagenesis after burial. Spatial heterogeneity and mixing relations must often be accounted for, rather than simply ``matching'' a measured strontium isotope value to a presumed single-valued geologic source. The successes, limitations and future potential of the strontium isotope technique are illustrated through case studies from geochemistry, biogeochemistry, ecology and archaeology.

/pdf/strontium-isotopes-from-the-earth-to-the-archaeological-2c7rwbxe6b.pdf

Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the Archaeological Skeleton: A Review

The titles and legends for Figures 1-3 were incorrectly switched. The title and legend currently appearing with Figure 1 belong with Figure 3, the title and legend currently appearing with Figure 2 belong with Figure 1, and the title and legend currently appearing with Figure 3 belong with Figure 2. The Figures themselves are in correct order.

Correction: Strategy for Sensitive and Specific Detection of Yersinia pestis in Skeletons of the Black Death Pandemic

Paleopathology in Germanic Countries

Conspicuous burials in a Neolithic enclosure at Riedling (Bavaria, Germany) – A selection of individuals?

In this study we investigate pristine and experimentally incinerated bovine bone material with differing annealing times and temperatures from 100 to 1000 °C to analyse the crystallographic change of natural bone mineral during cremation. We used X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy as complementary methods. We observe a structural change of bone mineral during cremation. Our study highlights that there are only few or even no hydroxyl ions in pristine bone mineral (bioapatite), which is a carbonate-hydro-apatite rather than a hydroxyapatite. A significant recrystallization reaction from bioapatite to hydroxyapatite takes place at elevated temperatures from 700 °C (after 30 min cremation time). This process is associated with a significant increase of crystallite size, and it involves an increase of hydroxyl in the apatite lattice that goes along with a depletion of water and carbonate contents during cremation. Our first results highlight the importance of both time and temperature on the recrystallization reaction during cremation.

/pdf/experimental-cremation-of-bone-crystallite-size-and-lattice-2mxvvrasps.pdf

Experimental Cremation of Bone: Crystallite Size and Lattice Parameter Evolution

Diet in Roman Pergamon using stable isotope (C, N, S), osteoarchaeological and historical data – preliminary results

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