Strontium Isotope Data from Early Neolithic Human Teeth at Bestansur, Iraqi Kurdistan

The 8th millennium BCE dataset contains strontium isotope analysis results from 101 human teeth representing 41 individuals from the Early Neolithic site of Bestansur in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was created by Giulia Ragazzon and published on figshare in April 2026. The data supports a life-course approach to studying community structure and landscape use during the Neolithic period in the Central Zagros.

Use Cases

• Modeling human mobility patterns based on strontium isotope ratios from dental enamel.
• Investigating community composition and multi-generational ties to a site using isotopic life-course data.
• Characterizing regional strontium isotope baselines to support future mobility studies in the Central Zagros.
• Analyzing the balance between sedentary and mobile behaviors in early domestication contexts.

Strengths

• Contains data from 101 human teeth samples, providing a substantial isotopic record.
• Focuses on a key 8th-millennium BCE site in a region with sparse isotope records.
• Uses high-resolution laser ablation strontium isotope analysis, a precise methodological approach.
• Published under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license, allowing for broad reuse.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, requiring manual inspection after download.
• The 11.8 MB file size suggests a relatively small dataset, which may limit statistical power for some analyses.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias specific to the single site of Bestansur.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Giulia Ragazzon.

Collection Method

High-resolution laser ablation strontium isotope analysis applied to archaeological human dental remains.

Time Range

Early Neolithic, specifically the 8th millennium BCE.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-23 05:35:38.

Geography

Bestansur, Iraqi Kurdistan, in the Central Zagros region of Southwest Asia.