Pica 8: Refining dietary reconstruction through amino acid δ13C analysis of tendon collagen and hair keratin

This study proposes a new method for identifying the predominant food source (terrestrial or marine) in a mixed diet using phenylalanine, valine and leucine δ13C values measured in collagenous tissues. Herein, tendon is proven to be an ideal tissue for isotopically characterising the final year of an individual's life. Our results show that individuals previously identified as non-locals, based on long-term food consumption, had in reality abandoned their original dietary habits typical of distant regions many months before death, and hence had presumably relocated to the locality of Pica.