What enters the body
Strontium isotope ratios in food and water reflect interacting geology, weathering, soils, dust, sea spray, agriculture and trade. Human and animal tissues record dietary inputs during tissue formation. The relevant comparison is therefore a bioavailable baseline, not a bedrock map alone.
Tooth enamel
Forms during a life stage and remodels little; sampling position and tooth development matter.
Bone
Remodels through life and is more vulnerable to burial alteration.
Baseline
Plants, waters, soils or fauna sampled with method, location and uncertainty.
Match is not origin
Many places share overlapping isotope ranges. A ratio outside a local baseline can support “non-local relative to this baseline,” but assigning a single origin requires other evidence and explicit candidate regions. Imported food can also decouple tissue values from residence.
Check preservation
Record cleaning, sample location, analytical standard, uncertainty and preservation tests. Enamel is generally more resistant than bone, but surface contamination, soil inclusions and laboratory preparation still matter. Destructive sampling requires institutional permission and a documented minimum-sample rationale.
Comparison exercise
An enamel ratio is 0.7102 ± 0.00002. Region A baseline is 0.7098–0.7104 and Region B is 0.7100–0.7107. The measurement is compatible with both ranges; it cannot choose between them. List one additional line of evidence, such as oxygen isotopes, archaeological context or a better-sampled baseline, and state its own limitations.
Minimum record
- Individual, tissue, tooth or element and formation period.
- Sampling position, preparation, instrument, standard and uncertainty.
- Baseline material, sampling density, date and spatial model.
- Candidate regions, overlap and alternative dietary explanations.
Sources
- Bentley (2006), Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the Archaeological Skeleton.
- British Geological Survey: Isotope biosphere mapping.
Sources accessed 10 October 2026. No human-remains dataset or personal origin assignment is provided.
Strontium Isotopes and Mobility
A measured ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio can be compared with bioavailable baselines; it is not a unique birthplace coordinate.
| Observe | Describe material, form, marks, wear or spatial relation without assigning identity or purpose. Begin with “What enters the body.” |
|---|---|
| Context | Locate the record in excavation, collection, restoration and display history. Check the chain against Bentley (2006), Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the Archaeological Skeleton and British Geological Survey: Isotope biosphere mapping. |
| Infer | Isotopic similarity can narrow plausible childhood environments or material sources, but equifinality and local baselines constrain certainty. Tie every attribution to the feature that supports it and retain competing readings. |
| Withhold | Do not extend “Tooth enamel” beyond the date, sample, comparison or provenance actually documented. |
Provenance checkpoint
List each custody or documentation gap separately; an unknown interval is evidence about the record, not permission to invent continuity.
Catalogue note
Strontium isotope ratios in food and water reflect interacting geology, weathering, soils, dust, sea spray, agriculture and trade. Human and animal tissues record dietary inputs during tissue formation. Mark later repairs, labels and digital reconstructions as later interventions rather than original features.
Research-room promptWhat single comparison object, technical test or archive entry would most change the interpretation of Strontium Isotopes and Mobility?