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Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis
Published on: August 15, 2018
Carbon stable isotope composition of modern and archaeological Cornelian cherry fruit stones: a pilot study
Dragana Filipović1, Uroš Gašić2, Nikola Stevanović2
1a Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts , Belgrade , Serbia.
Abstract:
The carbon stable isotope content of Cornelian cherry stones collected from wild tree stands in Serbia, SE Europe, was measured using elemental analyser-isotope ratio mass spectrometry, with the aim of recording natural carbon isotope composition of the fruit stones and its possible variation. The results show a significant variation in the carbon isotope values; we identified several environmental factors that, along with a number of other possible determinants, likely contributed to this variation. The obtained data are compared with the measurement of carbon isotope content of an archaeological specimen of Cornelian cherry stone discovered at the Neolithic site of Vinča (ca. 5600-4500 BC) in Serbia. Notwithstanding the limitedness of the data and the complexity surrounding carbon fractionation and the isotopic variation, it is suggested that the differences/similarities in carbon isotope ratios between modern and archaeological Cornelian cherry stones, when measured for much larger assemblages, could potentially offer a glimpse into growing conditions of Cornelian cherry trees in the past.
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