The material remains of ancient Egypt provide extensive and wide ranging data about the empire throughout its history. However, little evidence is available from ancient Egypt, or any past culture, with which to rebuild an image of social identity or individual experiences. This is especially problematic when the dominant narrative ignores experiences of minorities and minimizes the variation existing throughout the empire. Stable isotope analysis has the potential to reveal variability in lived experience of past peoples by acting as a proxy for behavior that can be analyzed from bone. Such an approach has been applied on individuals from the Romano-Christian Kellis 2 cemetery in the Dakhleh Oasis to explore diversity of lived experiences in relation to age, sex, and gender. Analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen values from bone collagen of 138 adults revealed a predominately C3 plant based diet with the addition of some animal protein. Statistical analysis of these values uncovered discernable differences in the values of young males and older adults which may suggest differences in the biological experiences of these groups and unique social experiences for those individuals. These findings offer a starting point with which to explore social organization at this site and others in ancient Egypt and the methods provide a useful approach to exploring individual experience in the past in ways not possible from other sources.

This thesis applies stable isotope analysis to the study of diet from a rural Roman estate, Vagnari (1st – 4th centuries AD), in southern Italy. The major objectives of this research are to identify the types of food eaten in the Vagnari skeletal sample from stable isotope ratios, as well as to explore individual variation in diet in the sample. Isotopic composition of collagen and carbonate indicate a diet heavy in C₃ plants with the incorporation of some animal-based proteins. Isotopes of carbon from collagen (δ¹³C) were relatively consistent across the sample, with some variation according to burial type. Nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) values varied with age-at-death and the number of grave goods buried with an individual, suggesting possible status-based variation in diet. Carbon isotopes from carbonate (δ¹³Cₐₚ) suggested variation in total diet with increased age-at-death. Isotope ratios from Vagnari were also compared with other Imperial Italian sites to situate the diet within a broader Roman context. Isotopically, diets at Vagnari were most similar to other inland and rural sites, and distinct from coastal urban diets based on marine fish. These results indicate the diversity in foods eaten in the Roman Empire, both at a local site level and between different settlements. Studying diet from Vagnari provides another window into the lives of people who lived and worked on industrial estates, and bolsters knowledge of the diets of rural residents, which are underrepresented in the literature. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Calcium phosphates are important compounds as they exist in natural aqueous systems such as rivers, lakes, ocean, and soil. These calcium phosphates are widely used to provide information on paleotemperatures as well as many anthropological features, such as paleodiets. One of the most ubiquitous forms of calcium phosphate is hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) which is a major component of hard tissue such as bones, fossils, and tooth enamel. The oxygen isotope systematics in the hydroxyapatite associated with carbonate-water system will provide further information to allow for the reconstruction of terrestrial and marine environments. For example, Fricke et al. (1998) used oxygen isotope analysis of the carbonate components of hydroxyapatite in tooth enamel of mammals to investigate changes in terrestrial climate. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to examine the oxygen isotope systematics in inorganic carbonate-bearing hydroxyapatite and water at low temperatures. This Master’s thesis followed and modified the methods described in Lécuyer et al. (2010) in an attempt to synthesize hydroxyapatite crystals and carbonate-bearing hydroxyapatite. The crystals synthesized were characterized in terms of several conditions (i.e., influence of mixing rate and maturations, pH, and concentrations of NaHCO3). Methods to produce hydroxyapatite were developed and analyzed using X-Ray diffraction analysis. The results demonstrated a strong dependence of pH in the hydroxyapatite solutions. Moreover, the effect of concentrations of NaHCO3 was deemed to be essential in order to obtain the desired amount of structural carbonates in the hydroxyapatite crystals. Furthermore, this research evaluated the temperature dependence of oxygen isotopic fractionation between HAP-bound carbonate and water at 10, 25, and 40 oC. Our study is the first to assess the two mixing-rates experiments with different maturations (7 and 14 days) on the oxygen isotope effects and fractionation behaviour between HAP-bound carbonate and water. Both maturation time and the effect of initial concentration of NaHCO3 were found to be the most important in determining the equilibrium conditions in our experiments. / Dissertation / Master of Science (MSc)

The purpose of this study was to apply oxygen and carbon stable isotope microsampling techniques to the seasonal banding of the otoliths of the Atlantic cod, Gadus morhu~ in order to determine their potential use in reconstructing the environmental conditions experienced by cod. A reconstruction of the changes in environmental temperature is seen as particularly applicable to the determination of cod migration routes based on the known temperature profile of the North Atlantic. Transverse thin sections of six otoliths from cod taken off the coast of Atlantic Canada were prepared using standard methods. Material was sampled from each semiannual band of the otoliths and run on a Finnigan MAT 251 ratio mass spectrometer to determine 0180 and 013C. The results for 0180 indicated that the otoliths had an approximate initial value of either 1.4%o or l.O%o for sample material taken from the nucleus. The 0180 signal was characterized by oscillating values in which sample material from hyaline bands corresponded predominantly with the troughs and sample material from the opaque bands corresponded with the peaks. The average range of 0180 was found to be 0.87%o corresponding to a temperature range of 3.6°C which was within the expected 3 to 4 °C seasonal average temperature shift experienced by cod. Seasonal cycling was apparent in three of the otoliths, with semi-annual values alternating between high opaque bands and low hyaline bands. It was concluded that seasonal temperature changes due to migration from offshore to inshore waters are recorded in the 0180 signal and that future sampling should attempt to resolve several samples within each seasonal band in order to resolve the migratory changes in temperature on an sub-annual basis. It is also suggested that experiments be carried out to determine the species specific 0180 versus temperature relationship for cod to make accurate interpretation of the data possible. The o13C signal was found to be characterized by an increasing logarithmic trend in o13C. The 013C signal was observed to increase over the first three years of growth and to level off at age 4 and fluctuate at a value close to O%o. The otoliths of cod were found to contain a high proportion of inorganic carbon with a minimum 013C value of -4.53%o and a maximum of 0.23%o. It was suggested that the initial increase in 013C was a product of a combination of factors affecting metabolic rate and therefore, indirectly, the amount of metabolically derived carbon circulating in the blood. It was concluded that further research into the growth and development of cod was necessary in order to reach a comprehensive understanding of the biological processes responsible for the observed trends in 013C. 0180 was plotted against 013C for samples from growth bands of age four or greater and found to have a positive correlation with a slope of 0.269 (S.E. 0.049) and an r-squared of 0.537, P < 0.0001 when the results for otolith 176 were excluded due an anomalous trend in that data set. Two hypotheses were suggested to account for the observed positive correlation, a metabolic/temperature effect, and a depth/temperature effect. It was concluded that, with further research into the controlling factors behind the fluctuations in 013C, the 013C signal may provide a second source of information with regards to changes in habitat and environmental characteristics over the life time of the cod. It is suggested that a study be carried out to determine the amount of metabolic carbon incorporated into the otolith in order to clarify the observed trends. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy

Determining the AA availability and metabolism in ruminant is a big challenge due to the rumen fermentation and complicated post absorption utilization. Current techniques used for direct determination of AA absorption and metabolism are laborious and expensive with large variation. The objectives of this project were to investigate AA availability of rumen undegradable protein, develop a stable isotope technique for determination of microbial protein and to evaluate the metabolism of amino acids in mammary glands of dairy cattle using stable isotope-based approaches. In the first experiment, seven heifers (258 ± 28 kg BW) were randomly chosen and assigned to 8 treatment sequences in a 7 x 8, incomplete, Latin square design. Treatments were a basal diet (BD), and 10% (DM basis) of BD replaced by corn silage (CS), grass hay (GH), alfalfa hay (AH), dried distillers grain (DDGS), soybean hulls (SH), wet brewers grain (BG), or corn grain (CG). Individual essential AA availabilities for corn silage, grass hay, alfalfa hay, dried distillers grain, soyhulls, brewers grain and corn grain were 33.4, 29.9, 34.1, 40.6, 28.8, 41.2, and 36.5% of the essential AA in each of the respective ingredients when a loss of 8.27% to splanchnic utilization during first pass was assumed; however, availability varied across individual essential AA. In the second experiment, twelve cows were blocked into 3 groups according to days in milk and randomly assigned to 4 treatments in a repeated 4 x 4 Latin square design with 2 factors to evaluate the essential AA availability from microbial protein and rumen undegradable protein under different rumen fermentation conditions. The 4 treatments were high rumen undegradable protein and high starch (HPHS), low rumen undegradable protein and high starch (LPHS), high rumen undegradable protein and low starch (HPLS) and low rumen undegradable protein and low starch (LPLS). Microbial protein synthesis calculated from purine derivatives was positively associated with rumen degradable protein, which was consistent with total microbial AA entry derived from the isotope dilution model indicating that the isotope based approach was representative. The individual essential AA availability from microbial protein was determined by isotope technique, whereas the PD method was just total PD absorption reflecting CP absorption. The metabolizable AA estimates from NDS nutritional model was similar to results from isotope dilution models, but with smaller difference among treatments. The microbial protein estimated from White's model showed the same trend among treatments compared to isotope dilution model, which may imply it represents the rumen fermentation better. The average essential AA digestibility for microbial AA was 82%, which varied across individual AA and treatments. In the third experiment, four cows (78 ± 10 DIM) were used to study the effects of jugular infusion of 2 groups of AA on essential AA uptake and metabolism by mammary glands in a 4 x 4 Latin square design. Treatments were jugular infusion of saline (CON), methionine plus lysine plus histidine (MKH), isoleucine plus leucine (IL), or MKH plus IL (MKH+IL). The MKH increased milk protein yield in high producing dairy cows. The IL infusion increased milk and milk lactose yields. The production response was associated with a change in mammary plasma flow together with changes in AA uptake and metabolism in mammary gland. Mammary uptake of essential AA was 135 % of milk protein output. Efflux of EAA from the mammary to blood was 13-61% of influx, which was high for BCAA but low for Met and Lys. Changes in influx and efflux resulted in net uptake difference of infused essential AA that were responsive to varying supplies resulting in maintenance of homeostasis. The proportion of AA catabolized and used for milk protein was affected by EAA infusion, which demonstrated plasticity of mammary gland in AA metabolism. Overall, results suggested essential AA availability from rumen undegraded protein and microbial protein varied across individual AA and diets and can be affected by rumen fermentation. After absorption, EAA transport into mammary tissue was bi-directional and their metabolism was affected by AA supply and energy. Using a single coefficient to represent all AA digestibility in MCP or feed ingredient and an integrated efficiency of MP-AA converted into milk protein is inaccurate. / Doctor of Philosophy / Studies in monogastric animals have showed that balancing AA supply with animal requirements can improve the efficiency of N utilization. In order to build a model for AA balanced diet formulation, the composition of feed ingredients, the profile and digestibility of EAA for the rumen undegradable protein and microbial protein, the partition and efficiency of EAA utilization in mammary glands must be determined accurately. However, current AA degradation, digestibility and metabolism data used in nutritional models are from in vitro and in situ studies, which have not been fully validated against in vivo observations. This research used an in vivo stable isotope-based approach to determine amino acid availability for commonly used feed ingredients in dairy industry. The microbial protein AA and rumen undegradable protein AA availability was determined by adapting this isotope technique and introducing another isotope into rumen to label microbes. In addition, by coupling stable isotope tracers with arterio-venous difference technique and compartmental modelling, essential AA metabolism in mammary glands of dairy cows were qualified. Total essential AA availabilities for corn silage, grass hay, alfalfa hay, dried distillers grain, soyhulls, brewers grain and corn grain were similar to values from meta-analysis of mobile bag results, but the availabilities of individual AA were more variable compared to in vitro and in situ results. The model derived microbial AA availability was consistent with the microbial protein calculated from NDS and Felming's model. However, our model predicted a lower proportion of metabolizable AA from microbial protein under diets including low rumen degradable protein, which might imply the NDS nutritional model overestimates microbial protein under low protein diets. The microbial protein estimated from White's model showed the same trend among treatments compared to isotope dilution model, which may imply it represents the rumen fermentation better. The averaged essential AA digestibility form microbial protein was 82%, which varied across individual AA and treatments. After absorption, mammary uptake of essential AA was 135 % of milk protein output. Cellular efflux represented 13 to 61% of essential AA uptake. The proportion of AA catabolized and used for milk protein was affected by essential AA infusion, which demonstrated the plasticity of mammary glands in AA metabolism. In conclusion, the results from isotope technique quantified the essential AA availability from rumen undegradable protein for various feed ingredients and from microbial protein under different feeding conditions. The essential AA transport and metabolism in mammary glands were regulated by multi factors and essential AA supply.

Yes / The Bioarchaeology of Care approach developed by Tilley is usually applied to skeletalized human remains, given the usual constraints of preservation bias that are seen with archaeological assemblages. However, other tissues, such as hair are sometimes preserved and can provide a wealth of information that can supplement the skeletal data. Archaeological hair has been analysed for drug compounds for almost thirty years. This article integrates data from hair analyses for coca metabolites, stable light isotope analysis and aDNA to expand the potential of the Bioarchaeology of Care approach using the example of a spontaneously mummified adult female from northern Chile. / Arts and Humanities Research Council, United Kingdom, Doctoral Studentship 2008/140561 (ELB)

New Zealand forests have been reduced and degraded by gross removal, logging, and the effects of mammals introduced by Polynesian and European settlers. These changes increase the value of the remaining forests, so information on the effects of these disturbances will be useful to inform the management of forest protection. Integrated measurements of C and N cycling within forests can be obtained using foliar stable isotope ratios, which may detect differences between forests resulting from natural or anthropogenic disturbances. This thesis characterises the stable isotopic composition distribution and likely drivers of isotopic variation of vegetation in several central South Island forests, and provides a baseline for future ecological New Zealand studies of present and pre-human vegetation. The largest detected stable isotope variation in modern leaf material was that of δ15N values between the eastern and western podocarp-broadleaf forests. This variation was probably controlled by the lower soil N availability associated with the high rainfall of western forests causing low δ15N values (-8.5 ± 3.5 ‰) relative to an eastern forest (+1.6 ± 1.3 ‰) and global temperate forests (average -2.8 ± 2.0 ‰ (Martinelli et al. 1999)). The significant but slightly higher mean δ15N (0.6 ‰) of a historically selectively logged forest (Saltwater Forest) in comparison to the mean in an unlogged forest (Okarito Forest), on the West Coast, could be attributed to either alteration to N cycling from logging, site differences in topography, or local soil N differences between the forests. Although δ13C showed no significant geographical variation, the well-described ‘canopy effect’ was observed in all modern forests, manifested as a positive covariation between δ13C and vegetation height. Similarly, large taxon-specific differences were observed between δ15N and δ13C values in both modern and fossil leaves. Well-preserved fossil leaves, from sediments c. 4500 years B.P in Pyramid Valley, North Canterbury, had higher δ13C (4.2 ‰) and δ15N (2.5 ‰) values than modern vegetation from Riccarton Bush, Christchurch. The difference between ecosystems spanning several millennia probably reflects ecosystem-scale changes in C and N cycling within New Zealand forests following human arrival, particularly from the degradation caused by invasive animals.

Individual niche variation is increasingly being demonstrated in animal populations in a wide variety of species and taxa. Niche variation among individuals has important implications for the ecology, evolution and management of animal populations and is a subject of increasing interest. However, despite its widespread occurrence the causes and consequences of individual niche variation remain poorly understood. In this thesis I use the European badger (Meles meles), a well studied species of high ecological interest, as a model system to investigate individual niche variation. In order to achieve this I combine information on individual foraging niches derived via stable isotope analysis (SIA) of badger vibrissae with detailed life history and ecological data from a long-term study population to investigate the incidence, cause and consequence of individual niche variation within badger social groups. First I use the biomarker Rhodamine B to investigate vibrissae growth rates and patterns in badgers and demonstrate that the isotopic composition of a single vibrissa likely reflects diet over several months (Chapter 2). Next I explore the use of SIA as a tool to investigate badger diet, by comparing isotopic patterns to seasonal changes in diet measured using faecal analysis (Chapter 3). My results provide validation that SIA is powerful tool for investigating foraging variation in this species, and suggest that within badger populations substantial dietary variation may occur among individuals. Further investigation of isotopic variation Indicates that individuals within social groups differ markedly and consistently in their isotopic signature, independent of age and sex effects and that in some instances these differences are remarkably consistent across year (Chapter 4).This suggesting long term individual specialisation (Chapter 4). I find that the degree of this individual specialisation, and the relationship between specialisation and body condition is influenced by competition for resources (Chapter 5). Social groups with higher levels of competition exhibit greater specialisation and specialised individuals within these highly competitive environments are in better condition. Finally, I discuss the implications of these results for individual niche variation, for the application of SIA to study this behaviour and for badger ecology generally (Chapter 6). I also outline future directions for further research.

Sublimation experiments have been carried out to determine the effect of the mineral dust content of porous ices on the isotopic composition of the sublimate gas over medium (days to weeks) timescales. Whenever mineral dust of any kind was present, the D/H ratio of the sublimated gas was seen to decrease with time from the bulk ratio. Fractionations of up to 2.5 were observed for dust mixing ratios of 9 wt% and higher of JSC MARS-1 regolith simulant 1-10 mum crushed and sieved fraction. These favored the presence of the light isotope, H2O, in the gas phase. The more dust was added to the mixture, the more pronounced was this effect. Theoretical modeling of gas migration within the porous samples and adsorption on the excavated dust grains was undertaken to explain the results. Adsorption onto the dust grains is able to explain the low D/H ratios in the sublimate gas if adsorption favors retention of HDO over H2O. This leads to significant isotopic enrichment of HDO on the dust over time and depletion in the amount of HDO escaping the system as sublimate gas. This effect is significant for planetary bodies on which water moves mainly through the gas phase and a significant surface reservoir of dust may be found, such as on Comets and Mars. For each of these, inferences about the bulk water D/H ratio as inferred from gas phase measurements needs to be reassessed in light of the volatile cycling history of each body.PACS CODES:98.80.Ft Isotopes, abundances and evolution (astronomy)], 64.70.Hz Sublimation], 68.43.-h Adsorption at solid surfaces]

Many tropical trees do not form reliable annual growth rings, making it a challenge to develop tree-ring width chronologies for application to paleoclimatology in these regions. Here, I seek to establish high-resolution proxy climate records from trees without rings from the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica using stable isotope dendroclimatology. Neotropical cloud forest ecosystems are associated with a relatively narrow range of geographic and hydroclimatic conditions, and are potentially sensitive to climate variability and change at time scales from annual to centennial and longer. My approach takes advantage of seasonal changes in the d18O of water sources used by trees over a year, a signature that is imparted to the radial growth and provides the necessary chronological control. A rapid wood extraction technique is evaluated and found to produce cellulose with d18O values indistinguishable from conventional approaches, although its application to radiocarbon requires a statistical correction. Analyses of plantation-grown Ocotea tenera reveal coherent annual d18O cycles up to 9 permil. The width of these cycles corresponds to observed basal growth increments. Interannual variability in d18O at this site is correlated with wet season precipitation anomalies. At higher elevations within the orographic cloud bank, year-to-year changes in the amplitude of oxygen isotope cycles show a relationship with dry season climate. Longer d18O chronologies from mature Pouteria (Sapotacae) reveal that dry season hydroclimatology is controlled at interannual time scales by variability in the eastern equatorial Pacific (ENSO) and the Western Hemisphere Warm Pool (WHWP), which are correlated with trade wind strength and local air temperature. A change in the late 1960s toward enhanced annual d18O amplitude may reflect low frequency changes in the Atlantic and Pacific ocean-atmosphere system. This study establishes the basis for cloud forest isotope dendroclimatology and demonstrates that the local climate of neotropical cloud forests is sensitive to interannual, and perhaps, multidecadal changes in important large-scale modes of climate variability.