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dc.contributor.authorThomsen, Erik
dc.contributor.authorAndreasen, Rasmus
dc.contributor.authorRasmussen, Tine Lander
dc.date.accessioned2021-01-19T09:48:18Z
dc.date.available2021-01-19T09:48:18Z
dc.date.issued2021-01-15
dc.description.abstractIncreasingly, strontium (Sr) isotopes are used to distinguish locals and migrants in prehistoric studies, by measuring <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr in human remains and comparing these values to the distribution of the bioavailable <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr in the study area, often in surface water. However, it has recently been shown that agricultural lime can have a substantial impact on the <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr ratio and strontium concentration in surface water in areas where soils are low- to non-calcareous. Agricultural lime is rich in strontium with low <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr ratios, such that interpretations of prehistoric migration based on surface waters affected by agricultural lime often overestimate the number of migrants in a given area. However, the impact of agricultural lime was questioned in a new study, which argues that strontium derived from agricultural lime is retained in the topsoil of the fields and therefore do not contaminate the surface water. In the present study and in a companion study in this volume, we show that strontium derived from agricultural lime is highly mobile in soils, and so contaminate surface waters extensively. We also show that the <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr ratios are consistently higher in waters from “pristine areas” (where no agricultural lime has been applied within a distance of 150 m from the sample locality) than in water from farmland, thus confirming that it is of vital importance for accurate mapping of isoscapes to avoid sampling waters contaminated by agricultural lime. Our new measurements of 87Sr/86Sr ratios in central Jutland, Denmark, raise the highest measured values to 0.7186. High values between 0.7140 and 0.7156 occur repeatedly and it is apparent that nearly all prehistoric human finds in Jutland, previously believed to have journeyed from afar are more likely of local origin. Furthermore, we show that carbonate-rich areas along the coast of southwest Zealand carry high 87Sr/86Sr values (0.7112–0.7132), where we would expect low values. This surprising result indicates that nearly all humans buried at the Viking Age site, Trelleborg could well have originated locally, in contrast to past studies, which have suggested that about 50% of the burials were of individuals who came from afar.en_US
dc.identifier.citationThomsen E, Andreasen R, Rasmussen TLR. Homogeneous glacial landscapes can have high local variability of strontium isotope signatures: Implications for prehistoric migration studies. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 2021;8:1-18en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 1871733
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fevo.2020.588318
dc.identifier.issn2296-701X
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/20311
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Mediaen_US
dc.relation.journalFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution
dc.relation.projectIDNorges forskningsråd: 223259en_US
dc.relation.projectIDAndre: E-2019-9-27en_US
dc.relation.projectIDinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/RCN/SFF/223259/Norway/Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate/CAGE/en_US
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2021 The Author(s)en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450en_US
dc.titleHomogeneous glacial landscapes can have high local variability of strontium isotope signatures: Implications for prehistoric migration studiesen_US
dc.type.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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