Carina Gerritzen

Promovendus/a: Strontium Chronicles: Integrating Isotope Analyses, Bioavailability Mapping, and Prehistoric Insights in Slovenia

Promotor(en): Prof. dr. Christophe Snoeck

Understanding humanity’s past—where people lived, how they moved, and what they ate—relies heavily on the surviving archaeological record. Among these, human remains offer a unique window into individual life histories. In recent decades,
isotopic analysis has become one of the most powerful tools for reconstructing past mobility and diet. This thesis explores and expands the use of strontium isotopes, both the radiogenic
⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio and the stable isotope δ⁸⁸Sr value, in archaeological science.
The strontium chronicles focus on the development of a robust analytical protocol for combined Sr isotope analysis for highsample throughput, evaluates the stability of δ⁸⁸Sr under cremation conditions, provides a study of strontium signatures in Slovenia, and applies these methods to a Slovenian Bronze Age cemetery. Strontium isotopes have become a key method for investigating mobility in cremated remains.
Strontium isotope ratios reflect the geological signature of the environment where an individual lived, making them valuable proxies for identifying locals versus non-locals in prehistoric populations.
One of the main aims of this research was to test the analytical and interpretive reliability of δ⁸⁸Sr, a novel and potentially informative stable isotope system. This dietary marker complements ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in mobility studies. A novel analytical
workflow is developed and validated, utilizing simultaneous measurement of both Sr isotope systems from a single sample preparation. This is paired with a protocol to assess data quality
and comparability.
Overall, this thesis advances the Sr isotope analysis methodological framework, validates δ⁸⁸Sr as a tool for cremated remains, and applies these techniques to enhance our understanding of past
human mobility in a regional archaeological ontext.