Contribution of strontium to the human diet from querns and millstones: an experiment in digestive strontium isotope uptake

Johnson, Lucie; Montgomery, Janet; Evans, Jane; Hamilton, Elliot

Abstract

The question of whether rock grit ingested unintentionally from querns, metates or millstones or deliberately through pica or geophagy is bioaccessible in the human gut has not been addressed in archaeological Sr-isotope studies. This study employed the Unified Bioaccessibility Method and determined that ingested rock grit can provide bioaccessible 87Sr/86Sr, but that unintentional consumption is unlikely to constitute more than 1% of the diet (by mass) and will not significantly change, i.e. by > 0.001, human skeletal 87Sr/86Sr. The use of locally or non-locally sourced querns or millstones will not affect the interpretation of archaeological human 87Sr/86Sr values in Britain. Keywords: Strontium, 87Sr/86Sr, bioaccessible, quern, millstone, grinding stone, metates, human diet, Millstone Grit, Pennant sandstone, Eskdale granite.

Citation

Johnson, L., Montgomery, J., Evans, J., & Hamilton, E. (2019). Contribution of strontium to the human diet from querns and millstones: an experiment in digestive strontium isotope uptake. Archaeometry, 61(6), 1366-1381. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12485

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 11, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 10, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 14, 2019
• Journal: Archaeometry
• Print ISSN: 0003-813X
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-4754
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1366-1381
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12485
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1309223