Changes in marine production play a key role in determining the trophic structure of the northeastern Pacific Ocean. This is a region of great environmental fluctuations due to modern, historical, and paleo-environmental variability recorded throughout the Holocene. These fluctuations are recorded in the bone collagen of the marine mammals that reside in these waters. Marine mammal remains from four previously excavated archaeological deposits on Unalaska Island, Alaska are used as a proxy for marine production changes throughout the Holocene (4,500 BP to 350 BP). Historic and modern samples from museum collections, subsistence harvests, and previously published data provide a distinct contrast to prehistoric marine mammals. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) derived from marine mammal bone collagen correlate to changes in marine production and food web length. The 13C and 15N of prehistoric marine mammal taxa covary through the Holocene, indicating no trophic level change with fluctuations in 13C. Changes in δ13C and δ15N of marine mammals are correlated to periods of environmental fluctuations within the Holocene. Cooler climatic periods (transitional interval, beginning of the Neoglacial Interval, and Little Ice Age) show enrichedδ13C, reflecting primary production increase, compared to warmer climate periods (end of the Neoglacial Interval into the Medieval Climatic Anomaly). Unidentified cetacean bones are isotopically distinguishable into orders Mysticeti (baleen) and Odontoceti (toothed) due to different feeding ecologies. The δ13C depletion in modern pinnipeds compared to prehistoric is likely caused by the effect of increased anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 and resulting decrease in primary production.

The utilisation of 3D digitisation and visualisation has grown considerably since 2008 and is becoming an increasingly useful tool for the digital documentation and metric analysis of archaeological artefacts and skeletal remains. It provides public access to rare and fragile specimens of palaeontological and palaeopathological importance whilst reducing the physical impact on these remains. Research in engineering and computer vision provides some insight into the impact of surface properties such as colour, specularity, reflectance and shape on the quality of the recorded 3D image, but within the archaeological and palaeontological disciplines comparable work has not yet been developed. If archaeology and anthropology are to provide long term reliable data from archaeological and palaeontological specimens in a way that doesn’t require repeated re-digitisation, we need to understand the impacts that the taphonomic histories of such samples have on our ability to 3D record them. Understanding the relationship of these taphonomic histories and the surface and optical properties will promote informed choices about the suitability of recording techniques. This thesis considers the taphonomic processes that affect the preservation of bone over archaeological, forensic and palaeontological timescales and the effect this has on the quality of 3D digital models. The digital refit of fragmentary bone samples is considered in relation to the effect of taphonomic alterations to bone. Conclusions regarding the key taphonomic factors and 3D digital model quality are drawn and areas of further work are identified. / Arts and Humanities Research Council

Sampling methods for dentine and bone collagen have been evolving for several decades. Incremental dentine collagen sampling and bone collagen sampling have been limited by the available technology throughout that time. As the technology for isotope ratio mass spectrometry analysis improves, the sampling methods should improve as well. This research focused on developing a new incremental dentine collagen sampling method and bone collagen microsampling method for stable isotope analysis. This research aimed to increase the temporal resolution of incremental dentine collagen sampling and provided sequential collagen sampling from bone collagen for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis while limiting the destructive nature of bioarchaeological analysis. It was determined that the temporal resolution for incremental analysis could be reduced to approximate three months, opposed to the nine months found in other sampling methods. It was also determined that detailed isotopic data could be obtained from bone collagen when sampling the microstructures. The increased amount of isotopic data from the bone collagen was an improvement on the commonly used bulk collagen sampling. This research can be utilised to answer several of the questions that archaeologists have been asking about past populations. Isotopic analysis using the methods developed in the research can provide a more detailed observation of the diet and health of past populations. In addition, the developed methods for bone and dentine collagen reduced the amount of tissue subjected to destructive analysis.

Historical evidence from contemporary documents established that Irish migrants to London during the Great Irish Famine (1845-1852) were likely to come from low socio-economic groups in south-west Ireland, and has characterised mid-19th-century health status and living conditions in both locations. Using samples from 119 individuals from the Catholic cemetery at Lukin Street, London (1843-1854) and 20 from the Union Workhouse Famine cemetery, Kilkenny, Ireland (1847-51), mean bone collagen isotope values were established for the well-documented Irish pre-Famine potato-based diet (δ¹⁵N 10.6‰, δ¹³C -19.1‰), and the diet of contemporaneous Londoners (δ¹⁵N 12.6‰, δ¹³C -19.1‰). The introduction of maize as a short-term Famine relief food was identified in three Kilkenny juveniles with bone collagen δ¹³C above -17‰, and incremental dentine collagen demonstrating temporal changes in δ¹³C consistent with dietary change from C3 to C4 plants. Bone collagen values for two Lukin Street individuals were consistent with high marine protein consumption. Techniques developed in this study to sample increments of dentine representing nine months or less of life have improved temporal resolution not only for migration events but also short-term dietary changes and physiological status during childhood. Combining epigraphic, osteological and archaeological evidence, individual 'lifeways' have been constructed using isotope data and provide insights into the connection between health, diet and skeletal manifestations of deprivation during childhood and adolescence. New models are investigated for examining maternal and infant health using dentine collagen increments formed in utero and combining dentine and bone collagen values to explore the effects of nutritional stress on bone turnover.

This thesis reports an investigation of Iron Age diet in Britain using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data obtained from skeletal material from four locations across England and southern Scotland. Both human and animal bone Collagen has been analysed from Wetwang in East Yorkshire and other sites in East Lothian, Hampshire and Cornwall. Animal bone from Dorset has also been included. The aims of the study were to characterize British Iron Age diet in general isotopic terms and also to provide a contextual base for future analysis which allows an understanding of both inter- and intra-site variation in such data for this and other periods. The comparisons across the locations allowed consideration of geographical variability within England and southern Scotland and included material from coastal sites (Cornwall and East Lothian), from sites with easy access to rivers and estuaries (Hampshire) and an inland site where access to water would have been more difficult (Wetwang). All human groups were consuming high levels of animal protein and there was very little evidence for the consumption of aquatic resources. There was significant variation in 815N values between the locations, which was reflected both in the humans and the herbivores, such that it is likely to be related to environmental rather than to dietary differences. Intra-site group comparisons at Wetwang showed very little variation within the cemetery population IM according to age, sex, subjective status category or site phase. The data were very consistent within the populations, although those for Hampshire displayed more variation in nitrogen.

Le collagène de type I osseux subit une série de modifications post-traductionnelles au cours du processus de maturation. Un certain nombre de ces modifications sont quantifiables par dosage : c’est le cas des molécules de pontage enzymatiques pyridinoline (PYD) et désoxypyridinoline (DPD), de la pentosidine (PEN) qui est un produit de glycation, et de la forme native (α) et isomérisée (β) des C-télopeptides (α et β CTX) du collagène de type I. A l’aide d’un modèle de maturation in vitro d’os bovin foetal, nous avons montré que le taux de solubilisation du collagène osseux par la cathepsine K augmente avec la durée d’incubation des os à 37°C. Nous avons également montré que cette augmentation est corrélée au taux des modifications post-traductionnelles du collagène mesurées. Lors d’une étude précédente utilisant ce même modèle de maturation d’os foetal, nous avions déterminé que les modifications post-traductionnelles du collagène osseux influençaient les propriétés mécaniques de l’os. Dans le cadre de ce travail de thèse et pour compléter cette étude, nous avons mis au point un modèle pour étudier isolément l’influence des molécules de pontage PYD et DPD sur les propriétés mécaniques de l’os. Ce modèle utilise de l’os cortical bovin traité aux U.V. puis soumis à des tests de flexion trois points. Dans la même optique, nous avons contribué à la mise au point d’un dosage en chromatographie en phase liquide à haute performance qui permet de quantifier à la fois les formes matures et immatures des molécules de pontage pyridinoliques (PYD, DPD, HLNL et DHLNL) sur le même chromatogramme / Type I bone collagen undergoes a series of posttranslational modifications during maturation process. Some of them are quantifiable by assays: the enzymatic cross-links pyridinoline (PYD) and deoxypyridinoline (DPD), the advanced glycation end product pentosidine (PEN), and the native (α) and isomerized (β) forms of the type I collagen C-telopeptides (α and β CTX). With an in vitro model of bovine fetal bone maturation, we showed that bone collagen solubilization by cathepsin K increases with the duration of bone incubation at 37°C. We also showed a correlation between this increase of solubilization and the level of measured collagen posttranslational modifications. In a previous study, using the same fetal bovine bone maturation, our results had suggested a link between bone collagen posttranslational modifications and bone mechanical properties. In the aim to complete this study, we developed a model to focus on PYD and DPD influence in bone mechanical properties. This model uses bovine cortical bone subjected to ultraviolet light before three points binding tests. In the same purpose, we contributed to develop a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography essay, quantifying mature and immature forms of pyridinium crosslinks (PYD, DPD, HLNL and DHLNL) in an unique chromatogram

This thesis reports an investigation of Iron Age diet in Britain using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data obtained from skeletal material from four locations across England and southern Scotland. Both human and animal bone Collagen has been analysed from Wetwang in East Yorkshire and other sites in East Lothian, Hampshire and Cornwall. Animal bone from Dorset has also been included. The aims of the study were to characterize British Iron Age diet in general isotopic terms and also to provide a contextual base for future analysis which allows an understanding of both inter- and intra-site variation in such data for this and other periods. The comparisons across the locations allowed consideration of geographical variability within England and southern Scotland and included material from coastal sites (Cornwall and East Lothian), from sites with easy access to rivers and estuaries (Hampshire) and an inland site where access to water would have been more difficult (Wetwang). All human groups were consuming high levels of animal protein and there was very little evidence for the consumption of aquatic resources. There was significant variation in 815N values between the locations, which was reflected both in the humans and the herbivores, such that it is likely to be related to environmental rather than to dietary differences. Intra-site group comparisons at Wetwang showed very little variation within the cemetery population IM according to age, sex, subjective status category or site phase. The data were very consistent within the populations, although those for Hampshire displayed more variation in nitrogen.

Ziel ist die räumliche Abbildung biologischer Materialien (Knochen, Kollagenfibrillen und Zähne) hinsichtlich deren Struktur auf der Nanometerskala mit Hilfe der Nanotomographie. Die Nanotomographie ist eine moderne dreidimensionale Volumenabbildungsmethode auf der Nanometerskala basierend auf der Rasterkraftmikroskopie. Für die Nanotomographie wurden Ätzprotokolle an Zähnen, Kollagenfibrillen und Knochen entwickelt, die einen gleichmäßigen Abtrag bewirken. Lineare Verschiebungen der aufgenommenen Schichten werden mit Hilfe der manuellen Registrierung korrigiert und zu einem Volumenbild rekonstruiert. Ein zentrales Ergebnis sind dabei erste hochaufgelöste Volumenbilder einzelner Kollagenfibrillen im nativen Knochen. Neben der konventionellen Nanotomographie wird ein Ansatz zur automatisierten Nanotomographie mit einer Auflösung von 10 nm am Beispiel des menschlichen Knochens und Zahnes demonstriert. Mit Hilfe von mikroskopischen und elektronenmikroskopischen Techniken wurden die verschiedenen Strukturebenen des humanen Zahn und Knochens abgebildet und die räumlichen Strukturen der TM-AFM-Bilder auf der Mikro- und Nanometerskala eingeordnet. Darüber hinaus konnte mit Hilfe analytischer Messmethoden die chemische Zusammensetzung des kortikalen nativen Knochens erfasst werden und Änderungen durch das Ätzen detektiert werden.