Isotopes in archaeology

Stable Isotopes and Archaeology in Central Chile: Methodological Insights and Interpretative Problems for Dietary Reconstruction

This paper discusses the problems faced when making interpretations of human stable isotope values due to the various explanatory alternatives that arise when reading archaeological data. These interpretative issues are analysed and discussed using the isotopic results for approximately 100 human individuals from archaeological contexts spanning from 5000 BC to 1540 AD in central Chile, support...

Stable Isotopes and Archaeology in Southern South America. Hunter-Gatherers, Pastoralism and Agriculture: An Introduction

The introduction of stable isotopes in archaeological research beginning in the 1970s produced a revolution in the ways that several key anthropological issues were studied, including early hominin subsistence, hunter-gatherer spatial organisation, origins and history of farming and pastoralist societies, migrations, and intraand inter-group social differentiation. As a tool suited for the quan...

CT Scanning in Archaeology

In this chapter we will review the use of x-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning in the field of archaeology. The story will be told in roughly chronological order, starting with the first reported use of a CT scanner in the field of archaeology and then look at some some possibilities for the future. Since the introduction of the x-ray CT scanner in the 1970’s the quality of the images has st...

SpringerBriefs in Archaeology

Scientific Dating in Archaeology