Abstract:

As an important mineral source for the entire organism, bone serves as a useful bioarchive for monitoring past human lifeways like diet, since the concentration of the elements in its structure is influenced by the individual diet. Bones from three different Neolithic Levels (Level 5, 4, and 3) dated to 6800 and 6100 cal. BC according to the C14 found in Tepecik–Çiftlik, Central Anatolia, were elementally (Ca, P, Mg, Mn, Sr, Zn, Cu, and Pb) investigated by the help of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry. The element content of bones refers to post-mortem alteration (diagenesis), especially for manganese and lead. Bivariate treatment of the element with calcium (element/calcium ratio) seems to demonstrate some differences between adult and subadult, male and female, and among levels. Multivariate analysis (PCA and DA) suggest a shift from meat consumption and rich economy in the lower levels to more vegetable (cereal) consumption and poor economy in the upper level. The results obtained from multivariate treatments are in agreement with the findings of archaeologists and anthropologists who conducted the excavations. 

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