A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns
Tracing human and animal mobility behavior, land use, and exploitation strategies through strontium (Sr) isotope analysis is critical for archaeological and palaeoecological research. The development of an 87Sr/86Sr bioavailable baseline map, often termed isoscape, is a prerequisite for interpreting...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fearc.2025.1499291/full |
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| author | Seminew Asrat Seminew Asrat Francesco Lucchini Mary Anne Tafuri Caterina Aureli Marina Gallinaro Andrea Zerboni Marianna Fusco Enza E. Spinapolice |
| author_facet | Seminew Asrat Seminew Asrat Francesco Lucchini Mary Anne Tafuri Caterina Aureli Marina Gallinaro Andrea Zerboni Marianna Fusco Enza E. Spinapolice |
| author_sort | Seminew Asrat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tracing human and animal mobility behavior, land use, and exploitation strategies through strontium (Sr) isotope analysis is critical for archaeological and palaeoecological research. The development of an 87Sr/86Sr bioavailable baseline map, often termed isoscape, is a prerequisite for interpreting the Sr isotope composition of animal and human remains from an archaeological context. Despite the wealth of archaeological records dispersed across southern Ethiopia, we know little about bioavilable 87Sr/86Sr, which calls for a Sr isoscape to address key archaeological questions. Here, we present the first 87Sr/86Sr isoscape of southern Ethiopia produced using a geostatistical Ordinary Kriging approach through the analysis of water, plants, and soil leachate, combined with previously published datasets. We used the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Gotera as a case study and conducted 87Sr/86Sr isotope analysis of faunal tooth enamel. The results show that our novel baseline isoscape displayed heterogeneous 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios in both the measured and predicted values (ranging from 0.703 to 0.712), consistent with geological units, with an accurate model performance evaluated through Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV) technique. The faunal tooth enamel analysis reveals that the Gotera fauna are of predominantly local origin, suggesting limited mobility and reliance on the exploitation of local resources across the Gotera area. This study on bioavailable isoscape and faunal 87Sr/86Sr isotopes highlights the potential of Sr isotope analysis to reconstruct past mobility patterns, spatial ecologies, and resource utilization strategies in Ethiopia. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8486e72901364eaba375ed39b24f8f4f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2813-432X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj-art-8486e72901364eaba375ed39b24f8f4f2025-08-20T03:13:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology2813-432X2025-04-01410.3389/fearc.2025.14992911499291A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patternsSeminew Asrat0Seminew Asrat1Francesco Lucchini2Mary Anne Tafuri3Caterina Aureli4Marina Gallinaro5Andrea Zerboni6Marianna Fusco7Enza E. Spinapolice8Department of Ancient World Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Heritage Research, Ethiopian Heritage Authority, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaDepartment of Ancient World Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Ancient World Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Ancient World Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio, ” Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, ItalyDepartment of Ancient World Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Ancient World Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyTracing human and animal mobility behavior, land use, and exploitation strategies through strontium (Sr) isotope analysis is critical for archaeological and palaeoecological research. The development of an 87Sr/86Sr bioavailable baseline map, often termed isoscape, is a prerequisite for interpreting the Sr isotope composition of animal and human remains from an archaeological context. Despite the wealth of archaeological records dispersed across southern Ethiopia, we know little about bioavilable 87Sr/86Sr, which calls for a Sr isoscape to address key archaeological questions. Here, we present the first 87Sr/86Sr isoscape of southern Ethiopia produced using a geostatistical Ordinary Kriging approach through the analysis of water, plants, and soil leachate, combined with previously published datasets. We used the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Gotera as a case study and conducted 87Sr/86Sr isotope analysis of faunal tooth enamel. The results show that our novel baseline isoscape displayed heterogeneous 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios in both the measured and predicted values (ranging from 0.703 to 0.712), consistent with geological units, with an accurate model performance evaluated through Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV) technique. The faunal tooth enamel analysis reveals that the Gotera fauna are of predominantly local origin, suggesting limited mobility and reliance on the exploitation of local resources across the Gotera area. This study on bioavailable isoscape and faunal 87Sr/86Sr isotopes highlights the potential of Sr isotope analysis to reconstruct past mobility patterns, spatial ecologies, and resource utilization strategies in Ethiopia.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fearc.2025.1499291/fullstrontium isotopesbioavailable isoscapefaunal mobilityhominin land useMSASouthern Ethiopia |
| spellingShingle | Seminew Asrat Seminew Asrat Francesco Lucchini Mary Anne Tafuri Caterina Aureli Marina Gallinaro Andrea Zerboni Marianna Fusco Enza E. Spinapolice A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology strontium isotopes bioavailable isoscape faunal mobility hominin land use MSA Southern Ethiopia |
| title | A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns |
| title_full | A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns |
| title_fullStr | A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns |
| title_full_unstemmed | A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns |
| title_short | A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns |
| title_sort | strontium 87sr 86sr isoscape of southern ethiopia implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns |
| topic | strontium isotopes bioavailable isoscape faunal mobility hominin land use MSA Southern Ethiopia |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fearc.2025.1499291/full |
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