Keywords
Bioarchaeology, stable isotope analysis, inter tissue spacing, growth and development
Abstract
Although stable isotope analysis is routinely utilized in bioarchaeology and relies on principles that are well-understood, there are still fundamental issues that have not been thoroughly investigated. This thesis examines the relationship between inter-tissue spacing of carbon stable isotope values (δ13C) and age in juvenile human remains. Analyses of tissues within the same individual reveal disparate isotopic values for a variety of physiological and biological reasons discussed herein. This project examines the distance between the δ13C values in bone collagen, skin, hair, and nail, and examines how these distances vary between different age groups, utilizing data collected from 52 well-preserved human remains from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt: 28 individuals between the ages of 1 and 4 years, 14 between 5 and 10 years, and 10 between the ages of 11-15 years. The mean carbon isotope values for each tissue were compared across each age group, and used to calculate the differences between each tissue type. Although distances between tissues were found to vary across all age categories, the distances between collagen and hair, collagen and skin, and collagen and nail are all substantially greater in the 11-15 year old category than those in the 1-4 and 5-10 year categories. Possible physiological, developmental and social factors are discussed in an effort to explain this discrepancy
Notes
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Graduation Date
2012
Semester
Summer
Advisor
Dupras, Tosha
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
College
College of Sciences
Department
Anthropology
Degree Program
Anthropology
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0004418
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004418
Language
English
Release Date
August 2012
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
Subjects
Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic
STARS Citation
Norris, Annie Laurie, "Age As A Factor In Inter-tissue Spacing Of Stable Carbon Isotope Values In Juvenile Human Remains From The Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2229.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2229