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| Figure of Isotopic Signatures for Carbon & Nitrogen Isotopes (Source: Dr. Svyatko) |
Anthropology is the holistic study of what it means to be human-culturally as well as biologically. Physical or biological anthropology focuses on the biological aspects of humans, and many scholars focus on macroscopic analyses, such as studies on primate and human osteology (bones), but there are several microscopic analyses that can and are done. One such study is isotopic anthropology, which is the intersection between chemistry and anthropology. Today's blog post will focus on what isotopic anthropology is, what it is used for within the general anthropological study of humans, and why it is important.
Isotopic anthropology is the study of isotopes, which are elements contained in all living things that contain different numbers of neutrons than what is typically expected. Isotopes exist in plants and animals, including humans, and they are part of the chemical composition of the bodies they exist in. As organisms consume other living things (be it plant, animal, or water) they take on that chemical composition (aka isotopic signature), gaining carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopes. There are two types of isotopes: stable and unstable isotopes. Stable isotopes have the requisite number of protons and neutrons and therefore do not change. Unstable isotopes are of primary concern of isotopic anthropologists because these have an incorrect number of protons and therefore are constantly changing in order to reach a stable state.
During life an individual's isotopic signature is constantly changing based on what is being consumed. For example, if you eat mostly plants then you will have more carbon isotopes, and if you drink water from different sources you may have different oxygen isotopes as a result. But after death an individual's isotopic signature is no longer changing in the same way but it does still change. The unstable isotopes continue to degrade or change, reverting back to a stable state, but no new isotopes are introduced to the body.
Isotopic anthropologists seek out the ratios of unstable isotopes that exist in the body to understand what an individual consumed within their lifetime. Each isotopic signature-be it carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, or hydrogen-provides insights into specific aspects of one's activities. Carbon and nitrogen provide information concerning diet and weaning, whereas oxygen and hydrogen let scholars know about migration patterns. Isotopic signatures in teeth and bones afford scholars information about early and late life stages as adult teeth form early in life, whereas bones give information from the last 10 years of an individual's life. Soft tissues, such as skin, hair, nails, and organs, can also provide similar information, but it's a shorter timeline, which depending on what information is being sought can be very beneficial to understanding the past life ways of the individual under study.
Isotopic studies are important because they can provide insights into diet, migration patterns, weaning, etc. that traditional macroscopic analyses may not be able to demonstrate. An individual who is buried with a foreign good simply demonstrates access to that foreign good, but it is not a guarantee that individual traveled to the local of the foreign good. Isotopic analyses, however, can provide that information that is difficult to glean otherwise. Overall, these studies provide further insights into cultural practices that can help clarify other areas of study of past cultures.
In conclusion, isotopic anthropology is an interesting and comprehensive study that provides greater insights into past cultural practices and life ways. It is an anthropological study that utilizes chemistry and chemical analyses, allowing for additional means of study within both disciplines. This is a very popular area of study among physical/biological anthropologists due to the complex insights one can gain through these analyses.
Bibliography
Dalton, K. 2016. "Stable Isotopes and Food Residues: Indirect Evidence of Past Diet." Anthropology RX.com
No Author. 2009-2011. "Activity: Can you Determine Diet?" Smithsonian Museum.
Simon Frasier University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. 2010. "Stable Isotopes." Investigating Forensics.
16 comments:
I believe the two has some aspects in common which make them look the same. Anthropology study the past and the present and analyes both, and they all deals with humans.
Kelechi, I apologize if I'm misunderstanding you, but by two do you mean chemistry and anthropology? Chemistry is not inherently the study of people but a scientific discipline that focuses on chemical composition of matter. Chemists can look at matter as it relates to humans (e.g. human matter such a bone) but typically they do not, hence why that is covered within the discipline of anthropology.
I didn't know that unstable isotopes had unstable number of protons and that they consistently change in order to remain stable.
It’s amazing what science can do nowadays that we can look at a creature’s isotopes to tell what they eat or where they went in their life.
I didn't know that that you could study isotopes to tell what an animal ate or went that's amazing!
It's so interesting to see the historical advancement of medical technology wherein we can actually determine differences solely based on the isotopic structure. That should be an inspiration in itself to watch what we eat, knowing someone can have an opinionated view of you later in life due to your unusual or unhealthy diet.
I have heard of isotopes but didn't know this was how scientists and anthropologists study past species. I'm interested in science so this was neat to learn about.
I did not know that we had advanced so much in technology to be able to learn these things like that isotopes and electrons continuuously change in order to "fix" themselves.
Its mind blowing on the things that medical technology can be used for today. I had no clue that you could study isotopes and that they can tell you what animals ate and I didn't know that unstable isotopes can change in order to become stable. -Brianne Pickett
I vaguely remember learning about isotopes but I never realized they could tell you so much about an animal and what that animal did throughout its life. - Shannon
I did not remember much about isotopes until i just read this article
With being an isotopic anthropologist would this be the same thing as being a vet? Or would there be some differences?
Completely and very different. Vets do not look at the chemical compositions of bones to answer archaeological questions, whereas isotopic anthropologists do.
I honestly don't remember ever learning this before today. This article was very helpful to me and this is something that will be useful for the rest of my life.
Jovie Black
I didn't know people actually study isotopes. /the last time i talked about isotopes until your class was probably four years ago.
I learned alot about Isotopic anthropolo gy in this blog post. I didnt know that sotopic signatures in your teeth and bones. Would you study more things about Isotopic anthropology?
-Daisha Benton
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