Sulphur isotopic variation in ancient bone collagen from Europe: implications for human palaeodiet, residence mobility, and modern pollutant studies

We report here on the first measurements of delta S-34 in small ( < 10 mg) samples of ancient bone collagen extracted from humans (n=23) and animals (n=4) from various European archaeological sites. Measurement of S-34 values complement collagen delta C-13 and delta N-15 measurements and can provide corroboratory palaeodietary insights or new locality information. In areas where there are clear delta S-34 differences between marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems they can be used to infer the consumption of foods from these systems. Also, as collagen delta S-34 values reflect local environment delta S-34 values, they can be used to identify the region where an individual normally resides, and therefore identify migratory individuals. Modern animal bone collagen delta S-34 values were also measured (n = 7) and it was observed that such values may be confounded by modern sulphur pollutants, and we propose that archaeological material, which is free from modern sulphur pollutants, would provide appropriate baseline material for ecosystem studies. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.