9402675 Sillen With National Science Foundation support Dr. Sillen and his colleagues will conduct biochemical work in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve in South Africa. This technique development research will provide information on a modern African food web and yield data important for paleodietary research. The study will focus on trace element variation at the base of food webs (plants) and will also include interspecific and intraspecific variation in primary and secondary consumers. The research design incorporates controls for species, plant part, soil substrate, and season, and sufficiently large numbers of specimens will be analyzed to determine variability. Animal specimens will be examined to ascertain trace elements for a number of species. Paleodietary research plays an important role in archaeology since scientists believe that the diet consumed during an individual's lifetime leaves a chemical imprint on skeletal tissues. Amounts of trace elements such as strontium are believed to provide insight into the relative contribution of meat consumed by an individual. However detailed studies which indicate how trace elements in fact move through the diet web are lacking and without them it is impossible to move beyond generalizations based on rough empirical data. This work is important because it will help to refine techniques of major anthropological importance.
