Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2011 | Page 39

FORENSICS JOURNAL

2003:130). Grasses such as maize, millet and sugarcane are characterized as C4 plants. A typical δ13C value for individuals consuming
primarily C3 plants is roughly -20‰. A less-negative value of δ13C
reflects a greater consumption of C4 plants, the animals that have
consumed them, and/or the consumption of marine foods (Ubelaker
and Owsley, 2003:130). Carbon values as high as -6‰ have been
identified in bone collagen, from consumers of C4 plants. In stable
isotope analysis, this means that a more negative value of δ13C‰
would likely indicate a diet richer in perhaps wheat or rice, and a less
negative value of δ13C‰ would likely indicate a diet more consistent with corn or sugar. High levels of δ15N‰ are usually associated
with a higher trophic level or location in an ecological food web. This
is because the values represent protein intake primarily from animal
sources, “making them better suited to distinguishing habitat-specific
differences in diet” (Keegan, 1989:229). Individuals with a diet richer
in plant foods are more likely to have lesser δ15N values than those
from coastal areas consuming abundant seafood or diets higher in
meat (Ubelaker and Owsley, 2003:131).

with a date of death ranging from 1851 to 1892 have a less negative
δ13C‰ value, indicative of a diet more reliant on C4 based plants,
such as maize. One individual, Alfred Richards (51RICHARDSCC-06) who died in 1894, has a δ13C‰ value of -14.64‰. This
value is consistent with someone who consumed a mixed diet of
wheat and