Triple oxygen isotope composition in Sparidae (sea bream) teeth from archeological layers - a new paleo-environmental proxy for the Mediterranean

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Pack
• Subject Area: Palaeontology ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology ; Oceanography ; Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2015 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278999301

Marine organisms, such as foraminifera, diatoms, gastropods (vermetid reefs) and coral reefs have provided essential information on past oceans, mainly on temperature, but also on fresh water balance and circulation. However, missing from the literature are proxies, capturing coastal environments, such as coastal wet-lands and lagoons that were exploited by ancient populations. Throughout human history, fishing has been the primary or secondary subsistence systems in coastal settlements, as recognized, by the abundance of fish remains in many archeological sites surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Among them, Sparidae (sea-bream) remains are abundant and well-preserved in many well-dated archaeological sites along the coast of Israel, representing the east Mediterranean region. Sparidae are adaptable to different environments, varying from hyper saline lagoons to typical coastal water and brackish environments. Variable d18O values of the Sparidae molariform pharyngeal teeth recently studied indicate different salinities of past coastal water. In the current proposal, we suggest to enlarge the preliminary research by studying triple oxygen stable isotope d17O_PO4 and d18O_PO4 of ancient Sparidae teeth as proxies of Eastern Mediterranean coastal water temperature and salinity. In order to be fully applicable, the method requires studying the fractionation of d17O_PO4 and d18O_PO4 during the deposition of modern teeth with its surrounding environment. With these results we will investigate teeth from selected well-dated coastal horizons in Israel and the eastern Mediterranean, where a wealth of Sparidae remains are available for new high-resolution paleo-environmental reconstructions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants