In June 2021, after a few postponements due to Covid, Fabienne finally made it across to the Muséum Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris to receive training in incremental isotope analysis from its leading practitioner Dr Marie Balasse, Director of Research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique based at MNHN. Fabienne will be working on the Middle Neolithic cattle molars from Kilshane, Co. Dublin (subject of an earlier post!), sequentially sampling the tooth enamel and undertaking carbon and oxygen isotope analysis on the sampled powders. The resulting isotope data will then be modelled to provide high resolution information on foddering and birth season. This sort of analysis has never been carried out on Irish Neolithic animals and we’re hoping for some interesting results to compare with other prehistoric European sites.
Passage Tomb People 