Resumen de Wat hebben Floris V, skelet Swifterbant S2 en visotters gemeen?

J.N. Lanting, Johannes Van der Plicht

• This paper deals with the reliability of human bone as material for radiocarbon dating, and the connection with the types of food eaten by the people in question. Non-terrestrial food, such as fish and shellfish, causes radiocarbon ages of human bone collagen to be too old, because of the so-called reservoir effects in water. In particular, these reservoir effects can be large in rivers. By measuring δ13C and δ15N in bone collagen, the consumption of non-terrestrial food can be traced (paleo-diet studies).Examples of reservoir effect are shown in historically dated persons, and in some prehistoric populations. In particular, medieval human bone should be considered an unreliable material for radiocarbon dating.