Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis
Published on: August 15, 2018
Isotopic evidence for age-related variation in diet from Isola Sacra, Italy
Tracy L Prowse1, Henry P Schwarcz, Shelley R Saunders
1Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L9, Canada. prowset@mcmaster.ca
Abstract:
This study examines collagen (N=105) and apatite (N=65) data from an Imperial Roman skeletal sample from the necropolis of Isola Sacra (Rome, Italy). This paper explores correlations between the isotopic composition of bone samples and the inferred age and sex of these individuals (aged 5--45+ years). The collagen of males, and older individuals in general, was significantly enriched in (15)N but not (13)C. Bone carbonate was somewhat depleted in (13)C in some older individuals, suggesting increased consumption of olive oil and possibly wine. Subadults (>5 years) in the sample appear to have consumed an almost exclusively terrestrial diet. This study demonstrates a clear trend in dietary patterns between adult age groups, as well as between adults and children within a population.
More Related Videos
11:14Fatty Acid 13C Isotopologue Profiling Provides Insight into Trophic Carbon Transfer and Lipid Metabolism of Invertebrate Consumers
Published on: April 17, 2018
12:10Stable Isotopic Profiling of Intermediary Metabolic Flux in Developing and Adult Stage Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: February 27, 2011
Related Concept Videos
The Fossil Record
What is Evolutionary History?
Radioactive Decay and Radiometric Dating
Optimal Foraging
Diversity of Protists III