Journal Article

Monthly mobility inferred from isoscapes and laser ablation strontium isotope ratios in caprine tooth enamel

ANR-11-IDEX-0004,SUPER,Sorbonne Universités à Paris pour l'Enseignement et la Recherche, Balter, V, BioArchéologie, Interactions Sociétés Environnements (BioArch) ; Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut français de recherche sur l’Asie de l’Est (IFRAE) ; Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Bayarkhuu, N, Sorbonne Université (SU), Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS), ANR-10-LABX-0003,BCDiv,Biological and Cultural Diversities : Origins, Evolution, Interactions, Future, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement (LGL-TPE) ; École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon) ; Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL) ; Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Centre National de la Recherche S

2021

Overview

Strontium isotopic analysis of sequentially formed tissues, such as tooth enamel, is commonly used to study provenance and mobility of humans and animals. However, the potential of 87Sr/86Sr in tooth enamel to track high-frequency movements has not yet been established, in part due to the lack of data on modern animals of known movement and predictive model of isotope variation across the landscape. To tackle this issue, we measured the 87Sr/86Sr in plant samples taken from a 2000 km2 area in the Altai Mountains (Mongolia), and the 87Sr/86Sr in tooth enamel of domestic caprines whose mobility was monitored using GPS tracking. We show that high-resolution, sequential profiles of strontium isotope composition of tooth enamel reliably reflect the high-frequency mobility of domestic livestock and that short-term residency of about 45 days can be resolved. This offers new perspectives in various disciplines, including forensics, ecology, palaeoanthropology, and bioarchaeology.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group,CCSD,Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 704/158/2039 / 704/158/2466 / 704/172 / 704/47 / Animal Migration - physiology / Animals / Biological Availability / Dental enamel / Dental Enamel - chemistry / Forensic science / Geographic Information Systems / Geography / Global positioning systems / Goats - metabolism / GPS / Humanities and Social Sciences / Isotopes / Laser ablation / Laser Therapy / Life Sciences / Livestock / Mobility / Mongolia / Mountains / multidisciplinary / Prediction models / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Strontium / Strontium Isotopes - analysis / Teeth / Time Factors