Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T16:11:46.229Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Analysis of Modern Skeletal Remains to Determine Year of Birth and Death—A Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

G T Cook ,
L A N Ainscough  and
E Dunbar
G T Cook*
Affiliation:
SUERC, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK
L A N Ainscough
Affiliation:
Cellmark Forensic Services, Unit B1, Buckshaw Link, Ordnance Road, Buckshaw Village, Chorley, Lancashire PR7 7EL, UK
E Dunbar
Affiliation:
SUERC, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK
*
2Corresponding author. Email: Gordon.Cook@glasgow.ac.uk.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

To aid in the development of a biological profile for human remains found in Collyhurst (Manchester, England), we undertook radiocarbon analysis of tooth enamel, tooth collagen, and bone collagen on behalf of the Greater Manchester Police. On the basis of the analyses of the teeth, we concluded that the person was born between 1950 and 1954, while on the basis of our analyses of cortical and trabecular bone we estimated the year of death to be between 1969 and 1974. This would make the maximum age range around 15 to 24 yr. Analyses of the dentition and other skeletal parameters can eliminate the younger part of the range, so an age of around 18 to 24 yr at death would seem most likely. The δ13C and δ15N values for the bone collagen were higher than would be expected for someone subsisting on a purely terrestrial diet, implying some consumption of marine resources, which could lead to reduced 14C activities. Taking any potential marine effect into account could reduce this age range to around 18 to 21 yr.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , 2015 , pp. 327 - 336
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ash, MM, Nelson, SJ. 2003. Wheeler's Dental Anatomy, Physiology, and Occlusion. 8th edition. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.Google Scholar
Cook, GT, MacKenzie, AB. 2014. Radioactive isotope analyses of skeletal materials in forensic science: a review of uses and potential uses. International Journal of Legal Medicine 128(4):685–98.Google Scholar
Cook, GT, Bonsall, C, Hedges, REM, McSweeney, K, Boroneant, V, Pettitt, PB. 2001. A freshwater diet-derived reservoir effect at the Stone Age sites in the Iron Gates gorge. Radiocarbon 43(2A):453–60.Google Scholar
Cook, GT, Dunbar, E, Black, SM, Xu, S. 2006. A preliminary assessment of age at death determination using the nuclear weapons testing 14C activity of dentine and enamel. Radiocarbon 48(3):305–13.Google Scholar
DeNiro, MJ. 1985. Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction. Nature 317(6040):806–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Georgiadou, E, Stenström, K. 2010. Bomb-pulse dating of human material: modeling the influence of diet. Radiocarbon 52(2):800–7.Google Scholar
Hua, Q, Barbetti, M, Rakowski, AJ. 2013. Atmospheric radiocarbon for the period 1950–2010. Radiocarbon 55(4):2059–72.Google Scholar
Keaveney, E, Reimer, PJ. 2012. Understanding the variability in freshwater radiocarbon reservoir offsets: a cautionary tale. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(5):1306–16.Google Scholar
Longin, R. 1971. New method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating. Nature 230(5291):241–2.Google Scholar
Mays, S. 1998. The Archaeology of Human Bones. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Powell, RL, Still, CJ. 2009. Biogeography of C3 and C4 vegetation in South America. In: Anais XIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Natal, Brasil, 25–30 April 2009. INPE. p 2935–42.Google Scholar
Reimer, R, Reimer, P. 2004. CALIBomb – calibration of post-bomb 14C data. URL: http://calib.qub.ac.uk/CALIBomb/.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Brown, TA, Reimer, RW. 2004. Discussion: reporting and calibration of post-bomb 14C data. Radiocarbon 46(3):1299–304.Google Scholar
Reventlid, M, Mörnstad, H, Teivens, A. 1996. Intra- and inter-examiner variations in four dental methods for age estimation of children. Swedish Dental Journal 20(4):133–9.Google ScholarPubMed
Scheuer, L, Black, S. 2000. Developmental Juvenile Osteology. London: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Slota, PJ Jr, Jull, AJT, Linick, TW, Toolin, LJ. 1987. Preparation of small samples for 14C accelerator targets by catalytic reduction of CO. Radiocarbon 29(2):303–6.Google Scholar
Spalding, KL, Buchholz, BA, Bergman, L-E, Druid, H, Frisen, J. 2005. Age written in teeth by nuclear tests. Nature 437(7057):333–4.Google Scholar
Taylor, RE, Suchey, JM, Payen, LA, Slota, PJ Jr. 1989. The use of radiocarbon (14C) to identify human skeletal materials of forensic science interest. Journal of Forensic Science 34(5):1196–205.Google Scholar
Ubelaker, DH, Parra, RC. 2011. Radiocarbon analysis of dental enamel and bone to evaluate date of birth and death: perspective from the Southern Hemisphere. Forensic Science International 208(1–3):103–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ubelaker, DH, Buchholz, BA, Stewart, JEB. 2006. Analysis of artificial radiocarbon in different skeletal and dental tissue types to evaluate date of death. Journal of Forensic Science 51(3):484–8.Google Scholar
Vandeputte, K, Moens, L, Dams, R. 1996. Improved sealed-tube combustion of organic samples to CO2 for stable isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating and percent carbon determinations. Analytical Letters 29(15):2761–73.Google Scholar