Lecture: Feeding Stonehenge: what isotopes can reveal about the origin of people and their food
Speaker:
Entry Fee
Members: Free
Visitors: £5.00
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
The strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel provides information on the origin of individuals and their livestock. This talk will describe the application of isotopes to burials in the Stonehenge area and look at the way in which we can assess sources of food for eating/feasting at Stonehenge.
Jane Evans is an isotope geologist by training and specialized in rocks that had been altered during low-temperature burial events. In the late 1990’s archaeologists started showing an interest in isotopes as a tool for looking at archaeological problems. This provided Jane with the opportunity to work on even lower temperature problems with a burial depth of about 6 feet. Her current role is to provide the collaborative support for archaeology at the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory in Keyworth, Nottingham. She works with a large number of archaeologists studying such problems as the origin of Bronze Age glass, the source of metal for Roman coins, where the ancient Egyptians sourced their eye makeup (kohl) and, in particular, how to study human and animal movement from the isotopes preserved in their tooth enamel.