Victoria van der Haas, BAP PhD Candidate, is featured on Episode 28 of The Arch and Anth Podcast entitled “What is stable isotope analysis? What did prehistoric hunter-gatherers at Lake Baikal eat?”
Link to homepage and to listen to podcast, Episode 28: https://archandanth.com/
From the The Arch and Anth Podcast webpage:
Victoria van der Haas (University of Alberta) is a biological anthropologist and bioarchaeologist studying prehistoric hunter-gatherer lifestyles.
A modern freshwater seal at Lake Baikal.
On today’s episode, she talks about how stable isotope analyses are performed to sample the dentine of the molar teeth, measure stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, and reconstruct ancient Siberian diets.
Graph showing stable isotope ratios of a single individual using different bone and tooth samples.
We also talk about hominin dispersals in Southeast Asia, which Victoria focused on during her previous studies. As part of a large team, she helped to date a shell associated with Homo erectus from Trinil Java and establish when Homo erectus used shells for production and engraving.
To see Victoria’s BAP graduate student profiles, go here: