Isotopic values of prenatal development : [delta][sup](13)C and [delta][sup](15)N variation in early-formed human tissues

Leskovar, Tamara (author), Potočnik, Doris (author), Mencin, Marjeta (author), Ogrinc, Nives (author), Snoeck, Christophe (author), Črešnar, Matija (author)

Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis illuminates diet and physiology in the past, yet interpretation is complicated by development and tissue-specific collagen formation. This study tests whether systematic isotopic offsets occur between auditory ossicles, deciduous dentin, long bones, and ribs in individuals who died as perinate, neonate, or young infants, and assesses implications for reconstructing maternal diet and early-life physiology. Materials and Methods Collagen δ13C and δ15N were measured for 106 samples from 27 individuals recovered from five sites spanning the Early/Late Iron Age, Early Roman, and 17th–19th centuries. Results Results reveal a consistent δ15N trajectory: values generally increase from ossicles to teeth and decrease from teeth to long bone/rib. Tooth–long bone/rib δ15N offsets are significant across the sample and within each age group. δ13C shows a modest, systematic increase from ossicle to tooth; ossicles are significantly lower than long bones/ribs and tooth, whereas tooth to long bone/rib δ13C exhibits no uniform group-level offset. These systematic patterns cannot be explained by maternal dietary variation across time and sites and instead reflect developmental physiology. Discussion These findings indicate that, in perinates, neonates, and young infants (> 4.5 months old), physiological conditions associated with different developmental stages and tissue turnover rather than diet govern collagen isotope variation. Ossicles predominantly archive mid prenatal physiology; deciduous dentin emphasizes late gestation (±immediate perinatal); long bone/rib integrates and dampens signals over a broader interval. This study recommends tissue-aware sampling and reporting when inferring maternal diet, fetal physiology, and early-life stress from collagen.

• Language: English
• Keywords: carbon isotopes, nitrogen isotopes, different skeletal tissues, early life physiology
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.04.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 1-16
• Numbering: Vol. 189, iss. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-186505
• UDC: 543:902
• ISSN on article: 2692-7691
• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.70251
• COBISS.SI-ID: 276241155
• Publication date in RUL: 02.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: American journal of biological anthropology
• Shortened title: Am. j. biol. anthropol.
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
• ISSN: 2692-7691
• COBISS.SI-ID: 175211011

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: ogljikovi izotopi, dušikovi izotopi, prenatalni razvoj, stabilni izotopi, kolagen, fiziologija