Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean: A case study from Tel Dor, Israel

G. Sisma-Ventura; I. Zohar; A. Sarkar; K. Bhattacharyya; A. Zidane; A. Gilboa; G. Bar-Oz; D. Sivan

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004

Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean: A case study from Tel Dor, Israel

G. Sisma-Ventura, I. Zohar, A. Sarkar, K. Bhattacharyya, A. Zidane, A. Gilboa, G. Bar-Oz, D. Sivan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines the potential of oxygen stable isotope composition of Sparidae (sea-bream) tooth enamel phosphate (δ¹⁸O_P) as an indicator of the habitat in which the fish were captured. The isotopic compositions of Sparidae molariform teeth recovered from the coastal site of Tel Dor (northern coast of Israel), from a sequence dated to the 12th-7th centuries BCE and from modern samples were studied. The δ¹⁸O_P values of the archaeological specimens exhibited a wide range of values, varying between 21.3 and 25.2 ± 0.2‰.While δ¹⁸O_P values from the teeth dated to the 12th-9th centuries BCE resembled typical East Mediterranean coastal water, some of the later teeth, dated to the 9th-7th centuries BCE, exhibited higher values. The later values indicate tooth enamel deposition in a hyper-saline environment similar to δ¹⁸O_P values of Sparidae observed at Bardawil Lagoon (Southeastern Mediterranean coast, east of the Suez Canal, Egypt). Prior to this study all Sparidae fish recovered at Tel Dor were regarded as evidence of local fishing activity. The current results exhibit, for the first time, that some of the Sparids may have been exported from the Bardawil Lagoon. We discuss, however, an alternative scenario, namely, the possible existence of saline lagoons near Tel Dor in antiquity.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	46-53
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume	64
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004
State	Published - 1 Dec 2015

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The fish remains used in this study are part of Anuar Zidane's Ph.D. research supported by the University of Haifa and ISF Grant 52/10. The Tel Dor excavations are co-directed by Ayelet Gilboa and Ilan Sharon (the Hebrew University). We deeply thank Ilan Sharon for his support and for implementing the excavation strategy that enabled this project. Tel Dor excavations are supported by the Wendy Goldhirsh Foundation, California. The authors would also like to thank the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation for its financial aid to establish the fish reference collection. We are grateful to the University of Haifa for funding G. Sisma-Ventura's post-doc, matched by ISF grant 923/11 . The field work that enabled this study was supervised by Yiftah Shalev of the University of Haifa (Areas D1 and D5) and Elizabeth Bloch-Smith of St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia (Area D2).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 .

Keywords

Iron Age
Oxygen isotope
Paleo-environment
Sparidae
Tel Dor
Tooth enamel

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Archaeology
Archaeology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004

Cite this

Sisma-Ventura, G., Zohar, I., Sarkar, A., Bhattacharyya, K., Zidane, A., Gilboa, A., Bar-Oz, G., & Sivan, D. (2015). Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean: A case study from Tel Dor, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 64, 46-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004

@article{49009d74128244eb8bd89ff5c36e9056,

title = "Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean: A case study from Tel Dor, Israel",

abstract = "This paper examines the potential of oxygen stable isotope composition of Sparidae (sea-bream) tooth enamel phosphate (δ18OP) as an indicator of the habitat in which the fish were captured. The isotopic compositions of Sparidae molariform teeth recovered from the coastal site of Tel Dor (northern coast of Israel), from a sequence dated to the 12th-7th centuries BCE and from modern samples were studied. The δ18OP values of the archaeological specimens exhibited a wide range of values, varying between 21.3 and 25.2 ± 0.2‰.While δ18OP values from the teeth dated to the 12th-9th centuries BCE resembled typical East Mediterranean coastal water, some of the later teeth, dated to the 9th-7th centuries BCE, exhibited higher values. The later values indicate tooth enamel deposition in a hyper-saline environment similar to δ18OP values of Sparidae observed at Bardawil Lagoon (Southeastern Mediterranean coast, east of the Suez Canal, Egypt). Prior to this study all Sparidae fish recovered at Tel Dor were regarded as evidence of local fishing activity. The current results exhibit, for the first time, that some of the Sparids may have been exported from the Bardawil Lagoon. We discuss, however, an alternative scenario, namely, the possible existence of saline lagoons near Tel Dor in antiquity.",

keywords = "Iron Age, Oxygen isotope, Paleo-environment, Sparidae, Tel Dor, Tooth enamel",

author = "G. Sisma-Ventura and I. Zohar and A. Sarkar and K. Bhattacharyya and A. Zidane and A. Gilboa and G. Bar-Oz and D. Sivan",

note = "Funding Information: The fish remains used in this study are part of Anuar Zidane's Ph.D. research supported by the University of Haifa and ISF Grant 52/10. The Tel Dor excavations are co-directed by Ayelet Gilboa and Ilan Sharon (the Hebrew University). We deeply thank Ilan Sharon for his support and for implementing the excavation strategy that enabled this project. Tel Dor excavations are supported by the Wendy Goldhirsh Foundation, California. The authors would also like to thank the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation for its financial aid to establish the fish reference collection. We are grateful to the University of Haifa for funding G. Sisma-Ventura's post-doc, matched by ISF grant 923/11 . The field work that enabled this study was supervised by Yiftah Shalev of the University of Haifa (Areas D1 and D5) and Elizabeth Bloch-Smith of St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia (Area D2). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 .",

year = "2015",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004",

language = "English",

volume = "64",

pages = "46--53",

journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science",

issn = "0305-4403",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

}

Sisma-Ventura, G, Zohar, I, Sarkar, A, Bhattacharyya, K, Zidane, A, Gilboa, A , Bar-Oz, G & Sivan, D 2015, 'Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean: A case study from Tel Dor, Israel', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 64, pp. 46-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004

Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean: A case study from Tel Dor, Israel. / Sisma-Ventura, G.; Zohar, I.; Sarkar, A. et al.
In: Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 64, 01.12.2015, p. 46-53.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean

T2 - A case study from Tel Dor, Israel

AU - Sisma-Ventura, G.

AU - Zohar, I.

AU - Sarkar, A.

AU - Bhattacharyya, K.

AU - Zidane, A.

AU - Gilboa, A.

AU - Bar-Oz, G.

AU - Sivan, D.

N1 - Funding Information: The fish remains used in this study are part of Anuar Zidane's Ph.D. research supported by the University of Haifa and ISF Grant 52/10. The Tel Dor excavations are co-directed by Ayelet Gilboa and Ilan Sharon (the Hebrew University). We deeply thank Ilan Sharon for his support and for implementing the excavation strategy that enabled this project. Tel Dor excavations are supported by the Wendy Goldhirsh Foundation, California. The authors would also like to thank the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation for its financial aid to establish the fish reference collection. We are grateful to the University of Haifa for funding G. Sisma-Ventura's post-doc, matched by ISF grant 923/11 . The field work that enabled this study was supervised by Yiftah Shalev of the University of Haifa (Areas D1 and D5) and Elizabeth Bloch-Smith of St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia (Area D2). Publisher Copyright: © 2015 .

PY - 2015/12/1

Y1 - 2015/12/1

N2 - This paper examines the potential of oxygen stable isotope composition of Sparidae (sea-bream) tooth enamel phosphate (δ18OP) as an indicator of the habitat in which the fish were captured. The isotopic compositions of Sparidae molariform teeth recovered from the coastal site of Tel Dor (northern coast of Israel), from a sequence dated to the 12th-7th centuries BCE and from modern samples were studied. The δ18OP values of the archaeological specimens exhibited a wide range of values, varying between 21.3 and 25.2 ± 0.2‰.While δ18OP values from the teeth dated to the 12th-9th centuries BCE resembled typical East Mediterranean coastal water, some of the later teeth, dated to the 9th-7th centuries BCE, exhibited higher values. The later values indicate tooth enamel deposition in a hyper-saline environment similar to δ18OP values of Sparidae observed at Bardawil Lagoon (Southeastern Mediterranean coast, east of the Suez Canal, Egypt). Prior to this study all Sparidae fish recovered at Tel Dor were regarded as evidence of local fishing activity. The current results exhibit, for the first time, that some of the Sparids may have been exported from the Bardawil Lagoon. We discuss, however, an alternative scenario, namely, the possible existence of saline lagoons near Tel Dor in antiquity.

AB - This paper examines the potential of oxygen stable isotope composition of Sparidae (sea-bream) tooth enamel phosphate (δ18OP) as an indicator of the habitat in which the fish were captured. The isotopic compositions of Sparidae molariform teeth recovered from the coastal site of Tel Dor (northern coast of Israel), from a sequence dated to the 12th-7th centuries BCE and from modern samples were studied. The δ18OP values of the archaeological specimens exhibited a wide range of values, varying between 21.3 and 25.2 ± 0.2‰.While δ18OP values from the teeth dated to the 12th-9th centuries BCE resembled typical East Mediterranean coastal water, some of the later teeth, dated to the 9th-7th centuries BCE, exhibited higher values. The later values indicate tooth enamel deposition in a hyper-saline environment similar to δ18OP values of Sparidae observed at Bardawil Lagoon (Southeastern Mediterranean coast, east of the Suez Canal, Egypt). Prior to this study all Sparidae fish recovered at Tel Dor were regarded as evidence of local fishing activity. The current results exhibit, for the first time, that some of the Sparids may have been exported from the Bardawil Lagoon. We discuss, however, an alternative scenario, namely, the possible existence of saline lagoons near Tel Dor in antiquity.

KW - Iron Age

KW - Oxygen isotope

KW - Paleo-environment

KW - Sparidae

KW - Tel Dor

KW - Tooth enamel

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84944383339&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004

DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2015.10.004

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84944383339

SN - 0305-4403

VL - 64

SP - 46

EP - 53

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

ER -

Oxygen isotope composition of Sparidae (sea bream) tooth enamel from well-dated archaeological sites as an environmental proxy in the East Mediterranean: A case study from Tel Dor, Israel

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this