Influence of Climate on Stable Nitrogen Isotopic Values of Contemporary Greek Samples: Implications for Isotopic Studies of Human Remains from Neolithic to Late Bronze Age Greece

Abstract

In this paper, we study δ15N enrichment as an indicator not only of marine protein diet, but also of climate change. The slope of the variation of δ15N with precipitation was calculated equal to 0.38/100 mm of precipitation for Greek plants, 0.38/100 mm of precipitation for herbivores, and 0.32/100 mm of precipitation for the Greek human population (hair samples). As a case study, the slope was used to re-evaluate the published mean δ15N human bone collagen values from the Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age for 22 archaeological sites. The results indicate that climate has a significant impact on the final δ15N values of plant and animal tissues. Furthermore, for the same sites, we investigated the intra-site diet patterns, while taking into account the environmental effect on the observed δ15N human bone collagen values.

Keywords

• stable isotopes
• paleodiet
• paleoclimate
• human remains
• precipitation
• δ¹⁵N
• δ¹³C
• Neolithic
• Bronze Age
• fauna