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| 2. |
- Wathen, Crista Adelle, et al.
(författare)
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Keeping it together: Animal glues and the effects on strontium isotopes and concentration
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Consolidants and adhesives are used in museum settings to preserve and adhere various archaeological materials. The goals of conserving materials are to ensure that a material can undergo future analysis and not damage the material. However, different consolidants and adhesives might cause alterations in the biogenic isotopic data, which is problematic as different isotopes shed light on the materials age, dietary and/or migration patterns. However, not every consolidant and adhesive affects the same isotopes. For this study, the authors have used animal-based glues with known 87Sr/86Sr isotopes and have found that these forms of glues cause issues during analysis.
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| 3. |
- Wathen, Crista Adelle, et al.
(författare)
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On the road again—a review of pretreatment methods for the decontamination of skeletal materials for strontium isotopic and concentration analysis
- 2022
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Ingår i: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1866-9557 .- 1866-9565. ; 14:3
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Strontium isotopic and concentration results from archeological skeletons have proved useful in demonstrating human and animal mobility patterns, and dietary life-history. This initiated the movement from proxies to answer these questions. However, there remains an issue as to whether the produced isotopic and concentration values are those accumulated by an individual during life and not an analytical artifact or the result of remaining diagenetic material or other forms of contamination. Over the last 40 years, there have been a variety of protocols used with varying success to remove contaminants prior to analysis, as well as a movement from bone analysis to solely enamel. This review covers the evolution of pretreatment protocols, the role of technological advances in producing accurate and precise results, and a discussion of best practices. Archeological case studies will demonstrate the evolution of these topics as well as their limitations and potential.
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| 4. |
- Wathen, Crista Adelle, 1990-
(författare)
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Our Bones, who art contaminated : Glues, strontium isotopes, and mobility in early Swedish Christians
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis aims to build upon previous research into contamination and its effects on isotopes by focusing on the strontium isotopic ratio (87Sr/86Sr), which is used in mobility studies to study the movements of past humans and animals and to build past economic trading networks. Contamination is a broad topic, and in the scope of this thesis, it concerns the introduction of contaminants from the soil after interment and the post-excavation preservation efforts. Due to these effects, this thesis analyzed three types of adhesives and consolidants that were or are still in use. These include strontium-containing glues, specifically animal-based glues, as well as “Karlsons klister,” which was identified as polyvinyl acetate, and epoxy resins. The latter are used to stabilize and mount small materials, such as otoliths. In addition, this thesis aims to focus on the methodological development of pretreatment methods for bones, using the Swedish Early Christians as a focus and comparing the results to the tooth enamel of the same individuals.The Christianization period in Sweden overlaps the Late Viking Age and the Early Medieval period, between the 8th and the 11th centuries. This period saw dynamic changes, which initiated the movement of people to Christianized areas. Two sites were the primary focus of this thesis, Varnhem in southwestern Sweden, which contains one of the earliest Christian communities in Sweden, and Västerhus, a well-studied site in northern Sweden, which was constructed during a period of rapid infrastructure growth. These two sites not only differ in period of use, and cemetery size, but also in regard to whether individuals were local or non-local based on their 87Sr/86Sr results. In addition, this thesis introduces the differences in individual diets using carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. Four experiments were conducted for this thesis: two were manual contamination experiments on uncontaminated modern skeletal tissues, horse bone and cod otoliths, which were contaminated with animal-based glues and epoxy resin, respectively. These experiments tested the effects of the contamination on the biogenic 87Sr/86Sr values. The final two experiments focused on the two early Christian sites and evaluated these individuals' mobility using their enamel and bone. The enamel recorded the intra-individual strontium consumption during tooth formation so that they could be aged to site arrival. The bones from these sites were tested for diagenesis, and the coating on the Västerhus bones was identified. Then the efficacy of two pretreatment methods was tested against these types of contamination.The adhesives produced varying effects on the 87Sr/86Sr values. The strontium-containing glues affected the biogenic values of the horse bone, the resin did not appear to affect the otolith values, and the “Karlsons klister” did not appear to affect the 87Sr/86Sr values in the Västerhus bones. Neither the ashing nor the washing method effectively removed the contamination from the animal-based glues; however, it did appear to affect the values in the diagenetically altered bones.
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| 5. |
- Wathen, Crista Adelle, et al.
(författare)
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They came from far and wide – strontium isotope analysis of the individuals buried at the early Christian site of Varnhem in southwestern Sweden
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Christianization of Sweden (8th–11th centuries) was a period of political, social, and religious 3 change, and it implies a period of movement and mobility. Recent excavations at the Varnhem 4 estate church grounds (Kata Gård), originally built around AD 1000 in Västergötland, Sweden, 5 have yielded information about this period. This study uses strontium isotopes to investigate the 6 lives of these early Christians buried at Varnhem and determine who the non-locals were. Our 7 results indicate that a large part of the adult population was non-local and had spent their 8 childhoods in other geological areas, whereas the children had local strontium isotope signatures.
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| 6. |
- Wathen, Crista Adelle, et al.
(författare)
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What were they eating at Varnhem? Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of an early Christian burial ground in southwestern Sweden
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sweden saw political, social, and religious changes during the 8th–11th centuries in connection to the conversion to Christianity. It was during this period that the social elite began building farm churches to serve their local communities. The private estate church at Kata Gård in Varnhem, province of Västergötland, Sweden, is one of the earliest examples. Previous analyses of osteology, strontium isotopes and DNA have provided insight into the life-histories of the individuals buried here. Here, palaeodietary analysis using stable carbon (δ13C), and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes demonstrate that the individuals at the site had a heterogenous terrestrial diet with aquatic influences with differences between high status males and the rest of the population.
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