| Abstract: |
Focusing on predator-prey relationships within levels, comparisons with modern Sonoran Desert fauna and elemental correlations, the results suggest that Ba is a more sensitive paleodietary indicator than Sr in a desert environment, and that the extent of Sr diagenesis is more pronounced than Ba through time at the site. Study addresses the question of diet and diagenesis by focusing on trophic-level relationships of selected mammalian taxa from the well-stratified site of Ventana Cave, Arizona. Sr and Ba are both alkaline earths, and can substitute for calcium in trace amounts through the food web. More than 90% which remains in the body substitutes for Ca in the hydroxyapatite crystal of bone. Conclusions of article indicate that in the desert environment Ba appears more stble than Sr through time and successfully established trophic-level separation between predators and prey in all three levels sampled. Sr appears stable and reflective of diet in the uppermost levels, but the Level 4 Sr values are most likely the result of diagenetic Sr incorporation into the hydroxyapatite lattices of the samples.
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