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Tooth oxygen isotopes reveal Late Bronze Age origin of Mediterranean fish aquaculture and trade.

ABSTRACT: Past fish provenance, exploitation and trade patterns were studied by analyzing phosphate oxygen isotope compositions (?18OPO4) of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) tooth enameloid from archaeological sites across the southern Levant, spanning the entire Holocene. We report the earliest evidence for extensive fish exploitation from the hypersaline Bardawil lagoon on Egypt's northern Sinai coast, as indicated by distinctively high ?18OPO4 values, which became abundant in the southern Levant, both along the coast and further inland, at least from the Late Bronze Age (3,550-3,200 BP). A period of global, postglacial sea-level stabilization triggered the formation of the Bardawil lagoon, which was intensively exploited and supported a widespread fish trade. This represents the earliest roots of marine proto-aquaculture in Late Holocene coastal domains of the Mediterranean. We demonstrate the potential of large-scale ?18OPO4 analysis of fish teeth to reveal cultural phenomena in antiquity, providing unprecedented insights into past trade patterns.

SUBMITTER: Guy SV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6148281 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Tooth oxygen isotopes reveal Late Bronze Age origin of Mediterranean fish aquaculture and trade.

Guy Sisma-Ventura SV Thomas Tütken T Irit Zohar Z Andreas Pack P Dorit Sivan S Omri Lernau L Ayelet Gilboa G Guy Bar-Oz BO

Scientific reports 20180920 1

Past fish provenance, exploitation and trade patterns were studied by analyzing phosphate oxygen isotope compositions (δ18OPO4) of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) tooth enameloid from archaeological sites across the southern Levant, spanning the entire Holocene. We report the earliest evidence for extensive fish exploitation from the hypersaline Bardawil lagoon on Egypt's northern Sinai coast, as indicated by distinctively high δ18OPO4 values, which ...[more]

PMID: 30237483

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Project description:In order to explore the link between comet 81P/Wild 2 and materials in primitive meteorites, seven particles 5 to 15 ?m in diameter from comet 81P/Wild 2 have been analyzed for their oxygen isotope ratios using a secondary ion mass spectrometer. Most particles are single minerals consisting of olivine or pyroxene with Mg# higher than 85, which are relatively minor in 81P/Wild 2 particles (~1/3 of the 16O-poor cluster). Four particles extracted from Track 149 are 16O-poor and show ?17O (= ?17O - 0.52 × ?18O) values from -2%0 to +1%0, similar to previous studies, while one enstatite (En99) particle shows lower ?17O value of -7±4%o (2?). This compositional range has not been reported among 16O-poor particles in 81P/Wild 2, but is commonly observed among chondrules in carbonaceous chondrites and in particular in CR chondrites. The distribution in ?17O indicates that 16O-poor 81P/Wild 2 particles are most similar to chondrules (and their fragments) in the CR chondrites and Tagish Lake-like WIS91600 chondrite chondrule silicate grains, which indicates that they likely come from a reservoir with similar dust/ice ratios as CR chondrites and WIS91600. However, differences in the Mg# distribution imply that the 81P/Wild 2 reservoir was comparatively more oxidized, with a higher dust enrichment. Two nearly pure enstatite grains from track 172 are significantly enriched in 16O, with ?18O values of -51.2 ± 1.5%0 (2?) and -43.0 ± 1.3% (2?), respectively, and ?17O values of -22.3 ± 1.9% (2?) and -21.3 ± 2.3%0 (2?), respectively. They are the first 16O-rich pyroxenes found among 81P/Wild 2 particles, with similar ?17O values to those of 16O-rich low-iron, manganese-enriched (LIME) olivine and CAI (calcium and aluminum-rich inclusions) -like particles from 81P/Wild 2. The major element and oxygen isotopic compositions of the pyroxenes are similar to those of enstatite in amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs) in primitive chondrites, in which 16O-rich pyroxenes have previously been found, and thus suggest a condensation origin.

Dataset Information

Tooth oxygen isotopes reveal Late Bronze Age origin of Mediterranean fish aquaculture and trade.

Publications

Tooth oxygen isotopes reveal Late Bronze Age origin of Mediterranean fish aquaculture and trade.

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