Abstract
Samples of modern indigenous foods and archaeological human skeletons from the southwestern Cape of South Africa were analysed for barium, strontium and calcium. Ba/Sr and Ba/Ca successfully differentiate marine and terrestrial foods. Measurement of all three elements improves the resolution of the marine/terrestrial separation and enhances the trophic level differentiation. Analysis of the archaeological human skeletons indicates that removal of diagenetic contamination is critical in order to obtain useful elemental analyses. Where such removal is possible Ba/Sr and Ba/Ca techniques can be particularly valuable in distinguishing marine and terrestrial inputs into prehistoric human diets in areas where stable carbon analyses are not applicable, e.g. in regions with terrestrial C 4 flora.
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