Nitrogen cycling in western India as revealed by nitrogen isotopes, and the historic production of saltpetre

Bibliographic Data

ID8354233
AuthorsChitosi Mizota (Iwate University Kurume‐shi Fukuoka Japan, corresponding author), Takahiro Hosono (0000-0001-7200-7912, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology Kumamoto University Kumamoto Japan), Azusa Okumura (Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology Kumamoto University Kumamoto Japan), Toshiro Yamanaka (0000-0002-6807-6904, School of Marine Resources and Environment Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology Tokyo Japan)
Year2023
Volume65
Issue3
Pages635-652
Publication date2023-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeometry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-813X • E-ISSN: 1475-4754
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/arcm.12830
OpenAlexW4296157786
LanguageEN
References cited22

Saltpetre (KNO 3 ) manufacture was a principal monopoly industry in early Modern India when the United Kingdom governed the social and economic systems. The process represented microbial transformation of excrementitious livestock and human wastes deposited around habitats, resulting in formation of salt efflorescence at an economic scale. Low caste people collected these wastes for extraction and production of rough saltpetre under the administrative control of British India. Stable isotope composition (δ 15 N and δ 18 O) was used to trace details of the microbial transformation processes, often involving the isotopic fractionation of nitrogen and oxygen. Marked elevation in δ 15 N and δ 18 O values for nitrates in soils and deposits, relative to those of primary organic nitrogen in diets and water sources, characterizes the unique processes of historic saltpetre manufacture in British India

Isotopes of nitrogen · Nitrogen · Stable isotope ratio · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Chemistry · Environmental Chemistry · Environmental Science · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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