Stable carbon isotopes in deep time : the diets of fossil fauna and hominids

This thesis describes the development, testing and application of a technique for extending carbon isotopic dietary tracing millions of years in time,. using the mineral phase of calcified tissues (apatite) as alternative sample material to collagen. The results reported here provide empirical evidence for the validity of the technique. Investigation of the isotopic relationships between diet, collagen and apatite, using a large sample of modem fauna with known diets, confirms that the isotopic relationship between collagen and apatite changes with trophic level.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Archaeology

Year dc:date.issued

1989

Author dc:creator

• Lee-Thorp, Julia Anne

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Van der Merwe, Nikolaas

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21732

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/21732