Robert E M Hedges

Biographic Data

ID	87621
NAME	Robert E M Hedges
GIVEN NAMES	Robert E M
FAMILY NAME	Hedges
SIGNATURE	HEDGES R E M
AFFILIATIONS	University of Oxford
VERIFIED	No
TOTAL WORKS	47
TOTAL CITATIONS	1827
AUTHOR COUNT	47
EDITOR COUNT	0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR	1980
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR	2013
H-INDEX	17

Investigating Dietary Variation With Burial Ritual in I ron A ge H ampshire: An Isotopic Comparison of S uddern F arm Cemetery and D anebury Hillfort Pit Burials
Open AccessR E Stevens, E Lightfoot et al.ARTICLEOxford Journal of Archaeology2013Cited by: 3References: 31
The formal I ron A ge cemetery at S uddern F arm, located near D anebury hillfort, provides a unique opportunity to investigate whether differences in burial tradition and ritual behaviour seen at the two sites are linked to access to food resources during life. We measured the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios of 40 humans from S uddern F arm and compared this information to previously published faunal data from the site and human isotopic dat…
Hydroxyproline Dating: Experiments on the 14 C Analysis of Contaminated and Low-Collagen Bones
Open AccessAnat Marom, James S O McCullagh et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2013Cited by: 9References: 29
Dating of the amino acid hydroxyproline from bone collagen has been shown to produce accurate and reliable radiocarbon dates. This article presents further application of the method demonstrating it can be used to obtain dates for both low-collagen and contaminated bones, extending the capability of 14 C dating archaeological bone from conventional limits imposed by alternative pretreatment methods. The method therefore has the potential for sign…
One for the master and one for the dame: Stable isotope investigations of Iron Age animal husbandry in the Danebury Environs
Open AccessR E Stevens, E Lightfoot et al.ARTICLEArchaeological and Anthropological…2013Cited by: 27References: 25
Community differentiation and kinship among Europe’s first farmers
Open AccessR A Bentley, Penny Bickle et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the National…2012
Community differentiation is a fundamental topic of the social sciences, and its prehistoric origins in Europe are typically assumed to lie among the complex, densely populated societies that developed millennia after their Neolithic predecessors. Here we present the earliest, statistically significant evidence for such differentiation among the first farmers of Neolithic Europe. By using strontium isotopic data from more than 300 early Neolithic…
Single amino acid radiocarbon dating of Upper Paleolithic modern humans
Open AccessAnat Marom, James S O McCullagh et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the National…2012
Archaeological bones are usually dated by radiocarbon measurement of extracted collagen. However, low collagen content, contamination from the burial environment, or museum conservation work, such as addition of glues, preservatives, and fumigants to “protect” archaeological materials, have previously led to inaccurate dates. These inaccuracies in turn frustrate the development of archaeological chronologies and, in the Paleolithic, blur the dati…
Variation of bone collagen amino acid δ 13 c values in archaeological humans and fauna with different dietary regimes: Developing frameworks of dietary discrimination
Open AccessNoah V Honch, James S O McCullagh et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2012Cited by: 11References: 33
We present bone collagen amino acid (AA) δ 13 C values for a range of archaeological samples representing four “benchmark” human diet groups (high marine protein consumers, high freshwater protein consumers, terrestrial C 3 consumers, and terrestrial C 4 consumers), a human population with an “unknown” diet, and ruminants. The aim is to establish an interpretive palaeodietary framework for bone collagen AA δ 13 C values, and to assess the extent …
Diet, social differentiation and cultural change in Roman Britain: New isotopic evidence from Gloucestershire
Open AccessChristina Cheung, H Schroeder et al.ARTICLEArchaeological and Anthropological…2012Cited by: 22References: 59
Palaeodiet at Eton College Rowing Course, Buckinghamshire: Isotopic changes in human diet in the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods throughout the British Isles
Open AccessR E Stevens, E Lightfoot et al.ARTICLEArchaeological and Anthropological…2012Cited by: 11References: 42
Diagenesis in bone and enamel apatite carbonate; the potential of density separation to assess the original composition
Open AccessJi Young Shin, Robert E M HedgesARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2011Cited by: 14References: 14
Using stable isotope analysis to examine the effect of economic change on breastfeeding practices in Spitalfields, London, UK
Open AccessErika Nitsch, Erika K Nitsch et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2011Cited by: 47References: 58
Breastfeeding patterns were subject to a number of fads in 18th and 19th century Britain. Feeding infants by hand, rather than maternal breastfeeding or wet-nursing, became more prevalent among both the wealthy and poor. Substitute foods may have been a convenient alternative for mothers employed away from the household. This study used stable isotope ratio analysis to examine the weaning schedule in the 18th and 19th century skeletal assemblage …
Stable Isotope Investigations of the Danebury Hillfort Pit Burials: Stable Isotope Investigations of the Danebury Hillfort Pit Burials
Open AccessR E Stevens, E Lightfoot et al.ARTICLEOxford Journal of Archaeology2010Cited by: 13References: 28
Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were performed on human and animal bones recovered from pits within Danebury Iron Age hillfort. All results are within the range expected for European Holocene specimens and are similar to those from other Iron Age sites in central southern Britain. Our results indicate that the human diet included a significant amount of animal protein (meat and/or dairy products) consumed on a regular basis, but do not precl…
Radiocarbon Dating of Individual Amino Acids from Archaeological Bone Collagen
Open AccessJames S O McCullagh, Anat Marom et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2010Cited by: 19References: 41
Since the development of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for radiocarbon dating in the late 1970s, its ability to date small samples of bone has been of huge importance in archaeology and Quaternary paleoecology. The conventional approach to sample preparation has been to extract and gelatinize protein, which is then combusted and graphitized for analysis. However, this “bulk protein” can contain a heterogeneous mixture of non-collagenous mol…
Improved AMS 14 C Dating of Shell Carbonates Using High-Precision X-Ray Diffraction and a Novel Density Separation Protocol (Cards)
Open AccessKaterina Douka, Robert E M Hedges et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2010Cited by: 31References: 39
One critical variable in the successful application of radiocarbon dating is the effective removal of carbonaceous contaminants. In the case of marine carbonates, contamination appears usually in the form of secondary low-magnesium calcite, the stable polymorph of calcium carbonate and byproduct of the post-mortem recrystallization or replacement of the autochthonous phase, originally in the form of high-magnesium calcite or aragonite. Depending …
A Nondestructive Prescreening Method for Bone Collagen Content Using Micro-Computed Tomography
Open AccessJennifer A Tripp, Maria E Squire et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2010Cited by: 1References: 17
Isolation of bone collagen for radiocarbon dating is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process that sometimes results in unacceptably low protein recovery. In preliminary studies reported here, micro-computed tomography (microCT), a nondestructive technique that uses X-rays to produce high-resolution three-dimensional images of mineralized materials such as bone, offers promise as a suitable prescreening option for bones of questionable preser…
An Investigation Into Diet at the Site of Yarnton, Oxfordshire, Using Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes
Open AccessE Lightfoot, T C O''Connell et al.ARTICLEOxford Journal of Archaeology2009Cited by: 16References: 23
This paper reports the results of stable isotopic analyses conducted upon animal and human bones recovered from Yarnton, Oxfordshire. Spanning the Neolithic to Saxon periods, it is in many ways a typical site, but is unusual in that a small Middle Iron Age cemetery was discovered. All of the data presented here lie within the expected isotopic ranges for the European Holocene, although both faunal and animal δ 15 N values are higher than is commo…
Trans‐Atlantic slavery: Isotopic evidence for forced migration to Barbados
Open AccessH Schroeder, T C O''Connell et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2009Cited by: 43References: 60
The question of the ultimate origin of African slaves is one of the most perplexing in the history of trans‐Atlantic slavery. Here we present the results of a small, preliminary isotopic study that was conducted in order to determine the geographical origin of 25 enslaved Africans who were buried at the Newton plantation, Barbados, sometime between the late 17th and early 19th century. In order to gain a more nuanced understanding of the slaves' …
Radiocarbon and stable isotope investigations at the Central Rhineland sites of Gönnersdorf and Andernach-Martinsberg, Germany
Open AccessR E Stevens, T C O''Connell et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2009Cited by: 25References: 4
Rooting for pigfruit: Pig feeding in Neolithic and Iron Age Britain compared
Open AccessJulie Hamilton, Robert E M Hedges et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2009Cited by: 22References: 49
They dream of the acorned swill of the world, the rooting for pigfruit...' Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood.Carbon and nitrogen isotopes show a marked change in the diet of British pigs between the Neolithic and the Iron Age. The authors neatly deduce that this was due to the loss of the Neolithic wildwood where pigs were wont to root for fungus amongst the rotting trees
Fossil dogs and wolves from Palaeolithic sites in Belgium, the Ukraine and Russia: Osteometry, ancient DNA and stable isotopes
Open AccessMietje Germonpré, Mikhail Sablin et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2008Cited by: 51References: 23
Where the wild things are: Aurochs and cattle in England
Open AccessAnthony H Lynch, Julie Hamilton et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2008Cited by: 8References: 15
The aurochs was a type of wild cattle not extinct in Europe until the mid-second millennium BC - so they must have co-existed for centuries with the domestic cattle which were to supplant it. Here the authors use stable isotope analysis to show what form that co-existence took: the domestic cattle grazing on the pasture, and the aurochs lurking in the forests and wet places
Collagen turnover in the adult femoral mid‐shaft: Modeled from anthropogenic radiocarbon tracer measurements
Open AccessRobert E M Hedges, John G Clement et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2007Cited by: 267References: 22
We have measured the 14 C content of human femoral mid‐shaft collagen to determine the dynamics of adult collagen turnover, using the sudden doubling and subsequent slow relaxation of global atmospheric 14 C content due to nuclear bomb testing in the 1960s and 1970s as a tracer. 14 C measurements were made on bone collagen from 67 individuals of both sexes who died in Australia in 1990‐1993, spanning a range of ages at death from 40 to 97, and th…
Predicting diet, trophic level and palaeoecology from bone stable isotope analysis: A comparative study of five red deer populations
Open AccessR E Stevens, Adrian M Lister et al.ARTICLEOecologia2006
The distinction between freshwater- and terrestrial-based diets: Methodological concerns and archaeological applications of sulphur stable isotope analysis
Open AccessKaren Privat, Karen L Privat et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2006Cited by: 70References: 2
Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology
Open AccessRobert E M Hedges, Linda M ReynardARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2006Cited by: 537References: 8
Nitrogen balance and δ 15 N: Why you're not what you eat during nutritional stress
Open AccessBenjamin T Fuller, James L Fuller et al.ARTICLERapid Communications in Mass…2005
While past experiments on animals, birds, fish, and insects have shown changes in stable isotope ratios due to nutritional stress, there has been little research on this topic in humans. To address this issue, a small pilot study was conducted. Hair samples from eight pregnant women who experienced nutritional stress associated with the nausea and vomiting of morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum) were measured for carbon ( δ 13 C) and nitroge…