ABSTRACT
This chapter models modern surface water values in an exploratory manner to understand and evaluates prehistoric human oxygen isotope values from enamel carbonate. This includes a discussion of modern meteoric water systems and resulting variation in δ18O in hydrological systems that must be considered in discussions of human mobility. Measured δ18O values of human enamel carbonate are transformed using multiple regression equations, and the calculations behind these equations are discussed. Finally, the total error ranges associated with multiple calculations are presented to explain the need for an enhanced methodology for understanding ancient human δ18O values. The initial aim of this research was to investigate human mobility in the central Eurasian steppe using oxygen isotopes of human enamel. Instead, the results of isotopic analyses from the Lisakovsk site have been used as a case study to critique current methods of baseline construction and offer suggestions for the potential modeling of precipitation δ18O values.
