Reconstructing Ancient Diets with Isotopes

Description:  Scientists are able to reconstruct the diet of ancient humans by analyzing the isotopes found in their bones and hair. For example by examining the 12C/13C isotope ratio they can determine if the diet was mainly wheat (a C3 plant) or corn (a C4 plant). They can also place the diet in different trophic levels based on the isotopes of carbon as well as nitrogen and oxygen. This phenomenon could start with the following question: Was the paleo diet truly the paleo diet?

Web Resource: Reconstructing Ancient Diets with Isotopes - Wikipedia