Isotopic measurements of plant remains from archaeological sites are now routinely used to reconstruct agricultural practices in the Old World. These studies use charred botanical remains as the analytical substrate because (1) these are the materials that are commonly preserved in the archaeological record and (2) the integrity of the isotopic compositions of archaeological plant remains that are uncharred or desiccated has been questioned, particularly for δ¹⁵N. By comparing charred and uncharred plant remains from two Late Moche (ad 600–800) sites in the Jequetepeque valley on the north coast of Peru—San José de Moro and Cerro Chepén—we sought to directly test the assumption that the isotopic compositions of desiccated plant remains are not representative of the isotopic compositions of the living plants. The average δ¹⁵N values of charred (+11.3 ± 4.4‰) and desiccated (+10.1 ± 5.1‰) remains from these two sites did not significantly differ from one another, suggesting that uncharred plant remains can produce reliable isotopic measurements under some circumstances. Furthermore, the relatively high δ¹⁵N values of the plant remains from these two sites are consistent with the ancient use of composted camelid manure as a fertilizer.

中文翻译：

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秘鲁北部烧焦和干燥的植物残骸的氮同位素组成比较

现在，从考古现场对植物残渣的同位素测量值通常用于重建旧大陆的农业实践。这些研究使用烧焦的植物残骸作为分析底物，因为（1）这些是考古记录中通常保存的材料，并且（2）一直质疑未烧焦或干燥的考古植物残骸的同位素组成的完整性，特别是对于δ ¹⁵ N.通过比较烧焦和未焦化厂遗体从两个晚期莫切（广告秘鲁北海岸的耶克特佩克山谷（SanJoséde Moro和CerroChepén）的600–800）站点—我们试图直接检验以下假设：干燥植物残渣的同位素组成不能代表活植物的同位素组成。平均δ ¹⁵从这两个位点烧焦（11.3±4.4‰）和干燥的（10.1±5.1‰）遗体的N个值并没有显著彼此不同，这表明未炭化的植物遗体可以产生在某些情况下可靠同位素测量。此外，相对较高的δ ^15个植物遗骸这两个网站的N个值与古代使用堆肥骆驼粪便作为肥料是一致的。