10.04.2013 Views

Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

“merchants” to a larger degree than previously assumed. Indeed, <strong>the</strong> mechanisms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

LBA trade must be established in order to provide a complete picture <strong>of</strong> trade, especially<br />

since <strong>the</strong> import and historical data is arguably biased towards a simplistic, centralized<br />

trade system.<br />

The δ 13 C, δ 15 N, and δ 18 O reflect <strong>the</strong> climate and vegetation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> area in which a<br />

population lives, so that areas with similar climate and vegetation will produce similar<br />

isotopic signatures, even though <strong>the</strong>se areas may be geographically distant <strong>from</strong> one<br />

ano<strong>the</strong>r. Never<strong>the</strong>less, examining <strong>the</strong> 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios will distinguish between<br />

populations because this ratio mirrors <strong>the</strong> isotopic signature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> underlying rock, and is<br />

sufficiently unique to each area to warrant differentiation. Isotopic ratio analysis (carbon,<br />

nitrogen, oxygen, and/or strontium) was conducted on <strong>the</strong> collagen and apatite<br />

components <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ivory samples using mass spectrometry in order to differentiate<br />

between <strong>the</strong>se areas and <strong>the</strong>refore provide <strong>the</strong> provenance.<br />

xi

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!