Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Ellis, Meredith A. B.

Abstract

Major academic institutions in the United States house unidentified human skeletal remains in their collections as a result of unethical obtainment, poor documentation, and lack of resources. This thesis explores the possible geographic provenances associated with two skulls, A11 and A12, kept in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Anthropology Department. This thesis utilizes strontium and oxygen isotope analysis collected from dental and enamel tissues to explore possible geographic provenance for A11 and A12. Analyzing isotopic composition of human skeletal remains is an established method to reconstruct human processes, history, events, and lifeways. Strontium (expressed by the ratio: 87Sr/86Sr) and oxygen (expressed by the ratio: δ18O) stable isotope analysis is used to determine place of origin for human remains with unknown origin. Strontium and oxygen isotopes express geographic signatures, of an individual's food and drinking water ingested during childhood which can reflect the isotope signature of the environment (soil, water, geology) from where it originates.

Extent

119 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2024.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00014508

Format

pdf

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