Incremental Enamel and Dentine Isotopic Data of Faunal Remains from the United Kingdom

Understanding human-animal interactions has always been fundamental to understanding past human societies. Through the application of incremental isotopic analyses to faunal teeth, on both dentine and enamel, previously invisible information on human-animal relationship dynamics can be illuminated. Currently, archaeological incremental isotopic analyses have predominately focused on understanding animal husbandry strategies, such as identifying birth seasonality, artificial weaning practices, transhumance, and foddering systems. Through producing high-resolution biographies of individual animals, information beyond the human-animal relationship, such as ethology and environmental changes, can also become visible. This paper collates previously published data from incremental isotopic studies performed on faunal remains found within the modern boundaries of the United Kingdom. The dataset consists of 1112 data points, obtained from 152 faunal specimens from 20 archaeological sites dating from 7960BC to 1300AD. 59 of these values are taken from incrementally sampled dentine and present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N). The remaining 1053 values have been acquired from incrementally sampled enamel, and present strontium (87Sr/86Sr, n= 193), and/or stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O, n= 860). This dataset is a convenient resource for future researchers, enabling comparisons based on faunal species, time, and geographical location. Further, the dataset acts as a mechanism for researchers to investigate the variety of incremental sampling methodologies which have been applied to faunal remains across the United Kingdom.