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Strontium Provenance/Evidence
Method evidence record

Strontium Provenance

Strontium isotope provenance analysis uses the ratios of strontium-87 to strontium-86 in human skeletal remains to determine geographic origin and track human mobility and migration. Developed by Jonathan Ericson in the 1980s, this method exploits the fact that strontium isotope ratios in the environment vary geographically based on underlying geology. When individuals consume food and water from a specific region, they incorporate that region's characteristic strontium isotope signature into their bones and teeth, creating a geochemical fingerprint of their residence.

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Source record

Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.

Strontium Isotope Provenance Analysis
Taxonomic method record · process-pipeline / archaeology
  • Ericson, J. E. (1985). Strontium isotope characterization in the study of prehistoric migrations. Journal of Human Evolution, 14(5), 503-514. · DOI 10.1016/S0047-2484(85)80029-4
  • Price, T. D., Grupe, G., & Schroter, P. (1994). Reconstruction of migration patterns in the Bell Beaker period by stable lead isotope analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 21(6), 697-708. · DOI 10.1016/0883-2927(94)90063-9
  • Bentley, R. A. (2006). Strontium isotopes from the earth to the archaeological skeleton: a review. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 13(3), 135-187. · DOI 10.1007/s10816-006-9009-x
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Curated claims

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Related methods

Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.

Same method familyCeramic Petrographymachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyInstrumental Neutron Activation Analysismachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyIsotope Diet Reconstructionmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyUse-Wear Analysismachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.

Evidence status

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Bibliographic sources are present. Claim-level evidence review has not been performed.

Sources

3 recorded citations, copied from the method source record.

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