Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean

Tracing Human Mobility with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr / 217
man et al. 2001). The buried population is composed predominantly of adult individuals
with 11 infants (12 percent of the population) under the age of 12. The discrepancy
between the number of children and adults cannot be attributed to the
state of conservation of the skeletons because child bones have been conserved on
the site in the different types of soil and context. It is suggested that children belong
to another category of social persons and received a different mortuary treatment
than the adults. At this point, sex determination revealed 36 female and 32
male individuals.
Sources of Strontium
Strontium taken up in the human body is derived, through the consumption of
food and water, from the surrounding environment. After ingestion, strontium is
incorporated into the human body as a substitute for calcium. Three major reservoirs
of strontium are present at Anse à la Gourde: the local soil, the carbonate
bedrock, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Oceanic water has globally uniform 87 Sr: 86 Sr ratio of 0.709175 (EN-1 standard
for seawater (Howarth and McArthur 1997). Strontium from oceanic water can enter
the human body through the consumption of seafood, such as fish or mollusks,
and through sea salt adhering to the seafood. In addition, oceanic strontium is introduced
into the environment by rainwater (e.g., Kennedy et al. 1998).
Strontium from the soil or the carbonate bedrock enters the body in vivo in
two ways: through the consumption of groundwater and through the consumption
of plants (and products and animals derived from them) growing on the local
soil. Strontium from both water and food reflects the isotopic signature of the soil
and/ or the underlying carbonate rock of Grand- Terre. Because the site is situated
in close vicinity to the sea it is most likely that food and water at Anse à la Gourde
are enriched with oceanic strontium.
Material
The sampled material consists of human dental elements (n = 50), rice rat (Oryzomys
sp.) dental elements (n = 4), and soil samples from the site of Anse à la
Gourde (n = 4). One tooth is collected per individual, preferably a premolar to ensure
a comparable age of formation for each sample. A total of 46 permanent teeth
were sampled, comprising 4 central incisors, 1 lateral incisor, 17 first premolars, and
24 second premolars. The 4 deciduous teeth included in the study consist of 1 incisor,
1 canine, and 2 molars. The selected teeth represent a biological age between
birth and 7 years. A low degree of dental wear and a good state of preservation
of the enamel were prerequisites for the selection of teeth. The state of preservation
was determined macroscopically. The enamel crowns of the teeth used in this
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