Abstract
The extent of pollution and human mobility in the Iron Age in the southern Levant is estimated in this study through lead (Pb) and strontium (Sr) concentrations and isotopic compositions in human tooth enamel. The concentrations of Pb and other trace metals (Cu, Co, Cd, Zn) and Pb/Ca along with Ba/Ca ratios are used to determine background levels of metals and exposure to metal pollution. Strontium isotopic ratios are used to trace individuals’ residence as children and young adults, and Pb isotopic ratios are used for determining sources of in-vivo pollution. Seven teeth from the Natufian to the Pre-pottery Neolithic periods were used to establish metal-concentration baselines, and their Pb concentrations were compared with previous results. Forty-one additional samples (31 individuals) were selected from secure archaeological contexts, mostly urban sites, from the Iron Age (~1200 ‒ 586 BCE; 28 individuals) and from the Persian Period (~586–332 BCE; 3 individuals). Based on their Pb/Ca ratios, five individuals were found to be in-vivo polluted, and four additional individuals were possibly polluted, all dating to the Iron Age, suggesting that just under a third of the sampled Iron Age individuals were exposed to heavy metals to some extent. All individuals except one (from the coastal site of Dor) plot within the 87Sr/86Sr range of local, bioavailable Sr in soils (0.7058–0.7102). The unpolluted and possibly polluted individuals from coastal sites have a different 87Sr/86Sr range (0.7081–0.7112) than the inland unpolluted individuals (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7079–0.7084), suggesting that the former have more coastal/marine contribution in their diet. This Sr isotopic distribution pattern reflects a generally non-mobile population in both coastal and inland sites. Polluted Iron Age individuals, on the other hand, from both inland and coastal sites, have 87Sr/86Sr values which fall in a narrow range (0.7083–0.7086), possibly affected to some extent by coastal/marine sediments. Lead isotopic composition of four out of five individuals clearly deviate from local soil values, indicating an external contribution of Pb, some of which possibly originated from lead-rich Cu-ores in the Arabah. We thus propose a correlation between pollution and mobility in the Iron Age southern Levant. A possible explanation might be that polluted individuals had interactions with the coast or the marine environments, where they came into contact with metals, as a result of exposure to metalworking, use and/or trade.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 105262 |
| Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science |
| Volume | 124 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Funding
We wish to thank the following institutions and individuals for providing samples which enabled us to construct a local baseline: I. Hershkovitz of the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Bio-history Research of the Tel-Aviv University, Dani Nadal from the University of Haifa (Rakefet, Nahal Oren), Ofer Bar-Yosef (z”l) from Harvard University (Netiv Hagdud), Hamoudi Khalaily of the Israel Antiquities Authority (Yiftahel and Motza). We also thank the following scholars for providing the teeth, and information on their contexts: Yossi Nagar of the Israel antiquities Authority (Kefin), Nava Panitz-Cohen (Tel Abel Beth-Maacah), Amihai Mazar (Tel Rehov), Amnon Ben-Tor and Débora Sandhaus (Hazor) and Ilan Sharon (Tel Dor). We thank Onn Crouvi of the Geological Survey of Israel for providing the loess samples. We also thank Sveta Matskevich for drawing Fig. 1 . We deeply thank Adi Ticher and Renana Oz for careful and dedicated work in the laboratory. We thank Jonathan Erez and Adam Levi for teaching us and letting us use the fluorescence binocular microscope. This research was funded by a Hebrew University internal grant to YE. We wish to thank the following institutions and individuals for providing samples which enabled us to construct a local baseline: I. Hershkovitz of the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Bio-history Research of the Tel-Aviv University, Dani Nadal from the University of Haifa (Rakefet, Nahal Oren), Ofer Bar-Yosef (z”l) from Harvard University (Netiv Hagdud), Hamoudi Khalaily of the Israel Antiquities Authority (Yiftahel and Motza). We also thank the following scholars for providing the teeth, and information on their contexts: Yossi Nagar of the Israel antiquities Authority (Kefin), Nava Panitz-Cohen (Tel Abel Beth-Maacah), Amihai Mazar (Tel Rehov), Amnon Ben-Tor and Débora Sandhaus (Hazor) and Ilan Sharon (Tel Dor). We thank Onn Crouvi of the Geological Survey of Israel for providing the loess samples. We also thank Sveta Matskevich for drawing Fig. 1. We deeply thank Adi Ticher and Renana Oz for careful and dedicated work in the laboratory. We thank Jonathan Erez and Adam Levi for teaching us and letting us use the fluorescence binocular microscope. This research was funded by a Hebrew University internal grant to YE.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Amnon Ben-Tor and Débora Sandhaus | |
| Hamoudi Khalaily of the Israel Antiquities Authority | |
| Jonathan Erez and Adam Levi | |
| Ofer Bar-Yosef | |
| Yossi Nagar of the Israel antiquities Authority | |
| Harvard University | |
| Hebrew University of Jerusalem | |
| Tel Aviv University | |
| University of Haifa | |
| Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration of Iran |
Keywords
- Enamel
- Iron age
- Isotopes
- Levant
- Mobility
- Pollution
