Julia Beaumont

University of Bradford | UB · School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences

Objectives: Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) has recurrently been associated with a rich diet (high in protein and higher trophic level foods); however, very few studies have investigated this link using carbon and nitrogen (δ13C and δ15N) stable isotope analysis. This paper explores the relationship between DISH and diet in two Rom...

Objective This project sought to investigate whether an association may be observed between isotopic stress indicators and skeletal evidence of pathological conditions. Materials Deciduous and permanent teeth of 15 non-adults from two contemporaneous mid-19th century London burial grounds (City Bunhill, Lukin Street). Methods δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N was me...

The study presents results of the investigations of diet based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of the bone collagen of individuals buried in medieval elite chamber graves from the territory of the state of the first Piasts, Poland (the second half of the 10th and the first half of the 11th century). The aim of the resea...

Archaeological skeletal material from most sites represents a cross‐sectional, opportunistic sample of the burials. These are influenced by the proportion and area of the site which is excavated, the taphonomic conditions and survival of tissues. This may not be representative of the population, and in an attritional cemetery may represent a long p...

Breastfeeding is known to be a powerful mediator of maternal and childhood health, with impacts throughout the life course. Paleodietary studies of the past 30 years have accordingly taken an enduring interest in the health and diet of young children as a potential indicator of population fertility, subsistence, and mortality patterns. While progre...

After the Battle Dunbar between English and Scottish forces in 1650, captured Scottish soldiers were imprisoned in Durham and many hundreds died there within a few weeks. The partial skeletal remains of 28 of these men were discovered in 2013. Building on previous osteological work, here we report wide-ranging scientific studies of the remains to a...

The process of urbanization is often characterized by high levels of migration, elevated food insecurity, and risks of disease epidemics. Stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains can be used to identify dietary trends associated with urbanization that may not be evident using osteological analyses alone. δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotope values...

Objectives We compared δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values from bone and dentine collagen profiles of individuals interred in famine‐related and attritional burials to evaluate whether individuals in medieval London who experienced nutritional stress exhibit enriched nitrogen in bone and tooth tissue. Dentine profiles were evaluated to identify patterns that may...

This paper presents a case study of a young infant, from a larger isotopic and osteological investigation of Bronze/Iron Age (14th-4th century BCE) skeletal assemblages from Croatia and Slovenia. The osteological analysis of this infant identified pathological lesions including abnormal porosity and new bone formation consistent with malnutrition a...

The carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios of human bone collagen have been used extensively over the last 40 years to investigate the diet of past populations. It has become apparent that bone collagen can give an unreliable temporal dietary signature especially in juveniles. With higher temporal resolution sampling of collagen from toot...

Objectives In this brief communication we discuss issues concerning scientific rigour in palaeopathological publications, particularly studies published in clinical or general science journals, that employ skeletal analysis to elucidate the lives and deaths of historical figures or interpret “mysterious” assemblages or burials. We highlight the rel...

Early life is associated with high vulnerability to morbidity and mortality – risks which can be reduced in infancy and early childhood through strategically high levels of parental or alloparental investment, particularly through maternal breastfeeding. Recent evidence has supported links between early life health and care patterns and long-term p...

Background: The population of Roman Britain are renowned for having elevated nitrogen (δ¹⁵) stable isotope values, which have been interpreted as evidence for the increased consumption of marine products. However, such results are now understood to also reflect episodes of stress and disease, suggesting that new interpretations are warranted. Aim:...

ABSTRACT Background: Carbon (d13C) and nitrogen (d15N) isotope ratios of collagen from teeth and bone are used to study human nutrition and health. As bones are constantly remodelling throughout life, isotopic values of bone collagen represent an average of several years. In contrast, human teeth do not remodel and their primary dentine contains on...

Figure S3. Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles by estimated age for deciduous tooth from Raunds matching profile type 3

Figure S1. Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles by estimated age for deciduous teeth from Raunds matching profile type 1

Figure S4. Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles by estimated age for deciduous teeth from Raunds matching profile type 2

Figure S5 (a,b) Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles by estimated age for permanent teeth from Raunds demonstrating variable profiles including flat (R5093), co‐varying (R5154) opposing co‐variance (R5021 and R5235) and wide range of variable values (R5187 and R5338).

Figure S2. (a,b) Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles by estimated age for deciduous teeth from Raunds matching profile type 2

For human dental enamel, what is the precise mineralization progression spatially and the precise timing of mineralization? This is an important question in the fundamental understanding of matrix-mediated biomineralization events, but in particular because we can use our understanding of this natural tissue growth in humans to develop biomimetic a...

Objectives: Recent developments in incremental dentine analysis allowing increased temporal resolution for tissues formed during the first 1,000 days of life have cast doubt on the veracity of weaning studies using bone collagen carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope ratio data from infants. Here, we compare published bone data from the well...

Objectives Isotope ratio analyses of dentine collagen were used to characterize short‐term changes in physiological status (both dietary status and biological stress) across the life course of children afforded special funerary treatment. Materials and methods Temporal sequences of δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C isotope profiles for incrementally forming dentine c...

Objectives Recent developments in incremental dentine analysis allowing increased temporal resolution for tissues formed during the first 1,000 days of life have cast doubt on the veracity of weaning studies using bone collagen carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope ratio data from infants. Here, we compare published bone data from the well‐pres...

This report presents the results of isotope and trace element analysis performed on human permanent dentitions - first permanent molar (M1), second permanent molar (M2) and third permanent molars (M3) from five individuals excavated at the Crossrail Broadgate Ticket Hall site in the upper Walbrook valley in London (Southern England). This study emp...

Viking boat burials are iconic archaeological discoveries. Wonderfully preserved examples discovered at Oseberg and Gokstad in Norway have sparked the imagination, and both archaeologists and the general public remain fascinated by these acts of conspicuous consumption. In the UK, examples are well known from the Scottish islands, including Orkney...

The major components of human diet both past and present may be estimated by measur- ing the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) of the collagenous proteins in bone and tooth dentine. However, the results from these two tissues differ substantially: bone collagen records a multi-year average whilst primary dentine records and retains...

Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles for KUW 15, 17, 18, 19 and 20 show that their childhood δ13C values reflect a C3 potato-based predominantly range from -21‰ and -20‰ Analytical uncertainty is shown at +/- 0.4‰ (2sd). (TIF)

Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles for KUW 11, 13, 14 and 16 showing that where there has been a C3 to C4 dietary change prior to death, rib and final dentine increments can record different δ13C values. Analytical uncertainty is shown at +/- 0.4‰ (2sd). (TIF)

Incremental dentine carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratio profiles for KUW 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 show that their childhood δ13C values reflect a C3 potato-based predominantly range from -21‰ and -20‰ Analytical uncertainty is shown at +/- 0.4‰ (2sd). (TIF)

The public health implications of poverty, industrialization, and urbanization are still important issues in the 21st century. A portion of the 19th-century parish cemetery of St. Mary Newington, in southeast London, was excavated in 2014. The individuals interred here during the first half of the 19th century included a substantial number of paupe...

This report provides a differential diagnosis of an exostotic bony lesion within the left maxillary sinus of a Romano-British (3rd to 4th century AD) adult male from Newport, Lincoln. Macroscopic, radiographic, and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) analyses suggest that the lesion is likely of odontogenic origin. The overall size of the lesion a...

Stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ(13)C) and nitrogen (δ(15)N) in bone and dentine collagen have been used for over 30 years to estimate palaeodiet, subsistence strategy, breastfeeding duration and migration within burial populations. Recent developments in dentine microsampling allow improved temporal resolution for dietary patterns. A simple meth...

Recent radiocarbon dating of a skeleton from Balevullin, Tiree, excavated in the early twentieth century, demonstrates that it dates to the Neolithic period, rather than the Iron Age as originally expected. Osteological examination suggests that the individual was a young adult woman, exhibiting osteological deformities consistent with vitamin D de...

Studies of the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ(13) C and δ(15) N) of modern tissues with a fast turnover, such as hair and fingernails, have established the relationship between these values in mothers and their infants during breastfeeding and weaning. Using collagen from high-resolution dentine sections of teeth, which form in the pe...

This poster was first Runner up to Cockburn Student Poster Award Study Objective & Aim Aim: to consider the pathological, physiological and cultural influences which could affect δ13C and δ15N profiles in addition to diet. Objective: to conduct incremental dentine carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis on individuals presenting skeletal evidence of...

Here we present a novel method which allows the measurement of the stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) from much smaller samples of dentine than previously possible without affecting the quality parameters. The reconstruction of the diet of past populations using isotopic analysis of bone collagen is a well-established tool....

This chapter analyzes the question of one anthropogenic cause of morbidity by measuring the exposure to a toxin, lead. It investigates the concentration of lead in the tooth enamel of 18th- and 19th-century individuals, using this as a proxy for lead exposure during childhood, and attempts to assess its impact on morbidity. Childhood exposure start...

Stable isotope analysis has provided crucial new insights into dietary change at the Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, indicating an unexpectedly sudden and radical shift from marine to terrestrial resources in coastal and island locations. Investigations of early Neolithic skeletal material from Sumburgh on Shetland, at the far-flung marg...

The complex biological, physicochemical process of human dental enamel formation begins in utero and for most teeth takes several years to complete. Lost enamel tissue cannot regenerate, therefore a better understanding of the spatial and temporal progression of mineralization of this tissue is needed in order to design improved in vivo mineral gro...

Incremental dentine analysis utilizes tissue that does not remodel and that permits comparison, at the same age, of those who survived infancy with those who did not at high temporal resolution. Here, we present a pilot study of teeth from a 19th-century cemetery in London, comparing the merits of two methods of obtaining dentine increments for sub...

Objective: To provide novel, detailed and important insights into the biomineralisation process in human dental enamel in order to inform emerging technologies in regenerative dentistry. Method: Archaeological skeletal collections which contain many juveniles who died whilst their teeth were still developing provide a resource for the study of th...

Historical evidence documents mass migration from Ireland to London during the period of the Great Irish Famine of 1845-52. The rural Irish were reliant on a restricted diet based on potatoes but maize, a C(4) plant, was imported from the United States of America in 1846-47 to mitigate against Famine. In London, Irish migrants joined a population w...

The public generally accepts that human remains are often disturbed during the course of redevelopment and that, legally, such remains have to be removed. However, it is clear that the public and other stakeholders also tend to hold a variety of opinions with regard to the acceptance oj handling human remains and of studying, retaining and/or dispo...

Since the landmark excavation at Christchurch Spitalfields, interest in post-medieval burial archaeology has grown substantially. In the past five years, over 5000 post-medieval burials have been excavated in London alone. Concurrently, public interest in our recent past has increased, as shown by the popularity of programmes such as Who Do You Thi...

Objectives: During the maturation stage of amelogenesis, the majority of enamel mineralization occurs. The long needle-like hydroxyapatite crystallites formed in the secretory stage grow laterally to fill the space of retreating protein molecules. In the present study we used 2D synchrotron x-ray diffraction to compare crystal orientation of develo...