title: Paleodiet characterisation of an Etrurian population of Pontecagnano (Italy) by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS)(#).
abstract: Human bones recovered from the archaeological site of Pontecagnano (Salerno, Italy) have been studied to reconstruct the diet of an Etrurian population. Two different areas were investigated, named Library and Sant' Antonio, with a total of 44 tombs containing human skeletal remains, ranging in age from the 8th to the 3rd century B.C. This time span was confirmed by 14C dating obtained using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) on one bone sample from each site. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) was used to extract information about the concentration of Sr, Zn, Ca elements in the bone inorganic fraction, whilst stable isotope ratio measurements (IRMS) were carried out on bone collagen to obtain the delta13C and delta15N. A reliable technique has been used to extract and separate the inorganic and organic fractions of the bone remains. Both IRMS and AAS results suggest a mixed diet including C3 plant food and herbivore animals, consistent with archaeological indications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Salerno, Via S. Allende, 84081, Baronissi (SA), Italy. cscarabi@unisa.it
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scarabino
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lubritto
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Proto
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rubino
authors.forename: Gilda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fiengo
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marzaioli
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Passariello
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Busiello
authors.forename: Antonietta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fortunato
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alfano
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sabbarese
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rogalla
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Cesare
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: d'Onofrio
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Terrasi
mesh_terms: D004032:Diet; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D010163:Paleontology; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000379:methods*