ABSTRACT P.I. Laura Newell SBR- 9319278 Probably the most important innovation to affect archaeological interpretation in the last two decades has been the appreciation that human bone often carries chemical and physical traces of the health and dietary conditions encountered by an individual during life. This appreciation is linked to the development of instrumentation that permits these often minute traces to be quantified. But this potential has been slow to be realized, as basic research into the relationship of bone composition and structure to specific conditions under which individuals live has been sparse. This research is one instance of the sort of necessary basic research that has been lacking. Strontium (Sr), like calcium (Ca), is ingested and absorbed from plant and animal matter in the diet. Archaeological populations show marked differences frequently in the ratio of Sr/Ca between male and female skeletal materials. Two different explanations for the sexually dimorphic ratios have been offered - either they are the result of gender-linked dietary differences, or of physiological responses to the demands of reproduction in women. Both hypotheses are interesting, but not verified or elaborated. While the reproductive link has been established in rats, preliminary studies of modern human populations do not show this effect, thus rendering the archaeological physiological inference suspect. This proposal will address the possibility of physiological alteration of Sr/Ca ratios during pregnancy and lactation. An NIH grant to the P.I. is generating macaque bone samples with vital markers placed in early pregnancy and immediately post-weaning in approximately 100 reproducing females. Examination of thin sections from these samples by electron microprobe WDS analysis will determine Sr/Ca ratios before, during, and after reproduction in a nonhuman primate species appropriate for the evaluation of the physiological model. *** Panthrojfried9319278.abs o ^ ` - / I K P m o ! ! ! ! D o o ( Times New Roman Symbol & Arial F " h E e E e = Jonathan Friedlaender Jonathan Friedlaender
