  A prediction of standard inflationary cosmology is that the elemental
composition of the medium out of which the earliest stars and galaxies
condensed consisted primarily of hydrogen and helium 4He with small admixtures
of deuterium, lithium 7Li, and 3He. The most red-shifted quasars, galaxies, and
Ly-alpha absorbers currently observed, however, all exhibit at least some
admixture of heavier elements, as do the most ancient stars in the Galaxy. Here
we examine ways in which the abundance of these same elements, if present
before the epoch of population III formation, might be observationally
established or ruled out.
