Trace elements concentrations from papio hamadryas teeth sequences

Brief Communication: Elemental Models of Primate Nursing and Weaning Revisited

Objectives

Intra-tooth patterns of trace elements barium (Ba) and strontium (Sr) have been used to infer human and nonhuman primate nursing histories, including australopithecine and Neanderthal juveniles. Here we contrast the two elemental models in first molars (M1s) of four wild baboons and explore the assumptions that underlie each.

Materials and Methods

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was employed to create comprehensive calcium-normalized barium and strontium (Ba/Ca, Sr/Ca) maps of M1 enamel and dentine at 35 micron resolution.

Results

Postnatal Ba/Ca values were typically high, peaking ~0.5 years of age and then decreasing throughout M1 crown formation; all four individuals showed minimal Ba/Ca values between ~1.2-1.8 years, consistent with field reports of the cessation of suckling. Enamel Sr/Ca did not support patterns of previous LA-ICP-MS spot sampling as the enamel rarely showed discrete Sr/Ca secretory zonation. Increases in Sr/Ca appeared in coronal dentine beginning ~0.3 years, with varied peak value ages (~0.7-2.7 years) and no evidence of a predicted postweaning decline.

Discussion

Inferences of baboon weaning ages from initial Ba/Ca minima are more congruent with behavioral observations than Sr/Ca maxima; this is consistent with studies of captive macaques of known weaning ages. Elemental variation is more apparent in the coronal dentine than the enamel of these baboons, which may relate to its more rapid mineralization and protection from the oral environment. Inferences of nursing histories from enamel Sr/Ca patterns alone should be reconsidered, and elevated values of Ba/Ca and Sr/Ca in teeth formed after weaning require further study.

Trace element analysis of Bronze Age skeletal and crematory graves from southern Poland for diet reconstruction

The basic aim of the present study was to determine the diet of human populations dating from the Bronze Age and the time of Roman influence. The osseous material under examination came from skeletal and crematory burials of the Lusatian and Przeworks Cultures, found in a cemetery at Opatów, Klobuck District, Silesian Province. Three elements: strontium, zinc and calcium were chosen as basic diet determinants. The three elements and the proportions between them are the most frequently used factors that permit a description of the relative proportion of animal and plant protein in a diet. It was assumed that the differentiation of burial ritual was paired with a diverse mode and quality of nourishment. Interdisciplinary osteological analyses, based on physicochemical studies of the odontologic material in the context of archaeological data (culture affiliation, type of burial, grave furnishings), permit a complex analysis of the issues connected with the biology of human groups, their demographic structure or, eventually, paleostratigraphy of primeval communities. It has been found that the type of burial and the richness of grave furnishings are most closely connected with the ultimate differentiation of Zn and Ca concentrations and the value of the Sr/Zn ratio. Because the richly furnished graves are at the same time mostly skeletal burials, it cannot be unequivocally stated which of the above-mentioned factors is of paramount importance. It has also been demonstrated that representatives of the Przeworsk Culture, chronologically younger than the Lusatian one that inhabited the same geographic region, show a lower Zn concentration and a higher Sr/Zn ratio.