[HN Gopher] Strontium isoscape of sub-Saharan Africa allows trac...
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       Strontium isoscape of sub-Saharan Africa allows tracing slave trade
       (2024)
        
       Author : benbreen
       Score  : 23 points
       Date   : 2025-01-15 18:52 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
        
       | nolist_policy wrote:
       | Why is there no conclusion?
        
       | a2tech wrote:
       | The flagged thread down below makes me feel very sad about my
       | fellows on this site. Be better people. That's all I can say.
        
       | sitkack wrote:
       | This is a really cool piece of research in how they are using
       | Strontium to track migration (in this case slaves).
       | 
       | > Strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis with reference to
       | strontium isotope landscapes (Sr isoscapes) allows reconstructing
       | mobility and migration in archaeology, ecology, and forensics.
       | However, despite the vast potential of research involving
       | 87Sr/86Sr analysis particularly in Africa, Sr isoscapes remain
       | unavailable for the largest parts of the continent. Here, we
       | measure the 87Sr/86Sr ratios in 778 environmental samples from 24
       | African countries and combine this data with published data to
       | model a bioavailable Sr isoscape for sub-Saharan Africa using
       | random forest regression. We demonstrate the efficacy of this Sr
       | isoscape, in combination with other lines of evidence, to trace
       | the African roots of individuals from historic slavery contexts,
       | particularly those with highly radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios
       | uncommon in the African Diaspora. Our study provides an extensive
       | African 87Sr/86Sr dataset which includes scientifically
       | marginalized regions of Africa, with significant implications for
       | the archaeology of the transatlantic slave trade, wildlife
       | ecology, conservation, and forensics.
       | 
       | I wonder what other mysteries this could be used to solve?
        
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