Work

Provenance Analysis Based on Cluster In‐Betweenness and Support Vector Machines: Identifying Migrant Candidates Using Multi‐Isotope Fingerprints

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Provenance reconstruction using strontium and lead stable isotopes can produce complex multidimensional fingerprints, challenging traditional methods. Identifying nonlocals, who migrated between sites, is a major task. Migrants are identifiable by divergent multi‐isotope fingerprints due to isotopic mixing between origin and destination sites. Detecting early migrants, however, is possible in exceptional cases only. This study used a Support Vector Machine approach to detect migrants as “in‐between instances” between sites. Tested on synthetic data, the model effectively identified IBIs under varying conditions. Applied to archaeological multi‐isotope data, it revealed nonlocal individuals, also early migrants, including the approximated years since migration.

Source: Archaeometry

DOI: 10.1111/arcm.70084