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Macronutrient-based model for dietary carbon routing in bone collagen and bioapatite

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Abstract

Carbon stable isotope ratios (δ13C), measured in human bone collagen (δ13Ccollagen) and bioapatite (δ13Cbioapatite), are commonly used indicators in ancient human diet reconstruction. The underlying assumption is that human tissues broadly reflect the δ13C signal of dietary food sources (δ13Cdiet) plus an isotopic offset. However, interpretation of results may be confounded by the differentiated routing of macronutrients (energy, that is carbohydrates and lipids, and protein) having associated different isotopic signals (δ13Cenergy, δ13Cprotein). Multiple regression analyses were conducted on data from controlled animal feeding experiments compiled by Froehle et al. (J Archaeol Sci 37:2662–2670, 2010). We derived a simple algebraic macronutrient-based model with δ13Cbioapatite = 10.1 + δ13Cdiet (‰) and δ13Ccollagen = 4.8 + 0.74 δ13Cprotein + 0.26 δ13Cenergy (‰). While the established relationship for δ13Cbioapatite is similar to previously known results, the model also suggests that δ13Ccollagen signal contributions originate from surprisingly consistent proportions of protein and energy macronutrients. Given that feeding experiments explore extreme variations in the proportion of diet macronutrients, the applicability of the proposed model and its predictions were tested in a variety of well-known, wild animal and human, natural contexts. Possible biochemical mechanisms explaining these empirical results are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to Prof. Matthew Collins for his generous contributions and insightful feedback. Research funding was provided by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) within the frame of the Priority Program SPP 1400 and the Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” of the German Excellence Initiative.

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Correspondence to Ricardo Fernandes.

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Fernandes, R., Nadeau, MJ. & Grootes, P.M. Macronutrient-based model for dietary carbon routing in bone collagen and bioapatite. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 4, 291–301 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-012-0102-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-012-0102-7

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