Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic?
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2019 |
Outros Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10451/42981 |
Resumo: | We investigated mercury (Hg) in human bone from archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula where the cultural use of cinnabar (HgS) as a pigment, offering or preservative in burial practices has been documented from the 4th to 2nd millennia cal B.C. (Late Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age). Previous analyses have shown high levels of total mercury (THg) in human bone at numerous Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in this region, but the question remains if this mercury entered the bones via diagenetic processes in the soil, especially where cinnabar powder and paint was found associated with the burials, or if it entered the bone via biogenic pathways from exposure to mercury from using cinnabar in life. We analyzed the humerus, femur, and tibia from a total of 30 individual burials from four Neolithic to Bronze Age sites in Iberia and found low to high values of THg in these bones, with the humerus showing significantly more THg concentrations than other skeletal elements when the THg was greater than 1 ppm. This pattern of Hg deposition in skeletal material from different sites and ages strongly suggests a biogenic origin for the mercury. In addition, absence of detectable Hg in bones with high to low values of THg using SEM EDS analysis further discounts diagenetic intrusion of Hg or cinnabar particles into the bone from the soil. It is likely that greater stress and bone remodeling rates from use of heavy tools and other activities in life are responsible for higher THg in the humerus than other skeletal elements, but additional research is needed to verify this. |
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7160 |
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Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic?IberiaNeolithicChalcolithicBronze ageCinnabarPigmentsToxicityBone remodelingSEM-EDSWe investigated mercury (Hg) in human bone from archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula where the cultural use of cinnabar (HgS) as a pigment, offering or preservative in burial practices has been documented from the 4th to 2nd millennia cal B.C. (Late Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age). Previous analyses have shown high levels of total mercury (THg) in human bone at numerous Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in this region, but the question remains if this mercury entered the bones via diagenetic processes in the soil, especially where cinnabar powder and paint was found associated with the burials, or if it entered the bone via biogenic pathways from exposure to mercury from using cinnabar in life. We analyzed the humerus, femur, and tibia from a total of 30 individual burials from four Neolithic to Bronze Age sites in Iberia and found low to high values of THg in these bones, with the humerus showing significantly more THg concentrations than other skeletal elements when the THg was greater than 1 ppm. This pattern of Hg deposition in skeletal material from different sites and ages strongly suggests a biogenic origin for the mercury. In addition, absence of detectable Hg in bones with high to low values of THg using SEM EDS analysis further discounts diagenetic intrusion of Hg or cinnabar particles into the bone from the soil. It is likely that greater stress and bone remodeling rates from use of heavy tools and other activities in life are responsible for higher THg in the humerus than other skeletal elements, but additional research is needed to verify this.ElsevierRepositório da Universidade de LisboaEmslie, Steven D.Alderman, AudreyMcKenzie, AshleyBrasso, RebeckaTaylor, Alison R.Molina Moreno, MaríaCambra-Moo, OscarGonzález Martín, ArmandoSilva, Ana MariaValera, AntónioGarcía Sanjuán, LeonardoVijande Vila, Eduardo2020-04-21T07:59:13Z2019-082019-08-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10451/42981engEmslie, S. D., Alderman, A., McKenzie, A., Brasso, R., Taylor, A. R., Molina Moreno, M., . . . Vijande Vila, E. (2019). Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? Journal of Archaeological Science, 108 104969. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2019.05.0050305-440310.1016/j.jas.2019.05.005metadata only accessinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-11-08T16:43:09Zoai:repositorio.ul.pt:10451/42981Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T21:55:52.288421Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? |
title |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? |
spellingShingle |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? Emslie, Steven D. Iberia Neolithic Chalcolithic Bronze age Cinnabar Pigments Toxicity Bone remodeling SEM-EDS |
title_short |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? |
title_full |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? |
title_fullStr |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? |
title_sort |
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? |
author |
Emslie, Steven D. |
author_facet |
Emslie, Steven D. Alderman, Audrey McKenzie, Ashley Brasso, Rebecka Taylor, Alison R. Molina Moreno, María Cambra-Moo, Oscar González Martín, Armando Silva, Ana Maria Valera, António García Sanjuán, Leonardo Vijande Vila, Eduardo |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Alderman, Audrey McKenzie, Ashley Brasso, Rebecka Taylor, Alison R. Molina Moreno, María Cambra-Moo, Oscar González Martín, Armando Silva, Ana Maria Valera, António García Sanjuán, Leonardo Vijande Vila, Eduardo |
author2_role |
author author author author author author author author author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Emslie, Steven D. Alderman, Audrey McKenzie, Ashley Brasso, Rebecka Taylor, Alison R. Molina Moreno, María Cambra-Moo, Oscar González Martín, Armando Silva, Ana Maria Valera, António García Sanjuán, Leonardo Vijande Vila, Eduardo |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Iberia Neolithic Chalcolithic Bronze age Cinnabar Pigments Toxicity Bone remodeling SEM-EDS |
topic |
Iberia Neolithic Chalcolithic Bronze age Cinnabar Pigments Toxicity Bone remodeling SEM-EDS |
description |
We investigated mercury (Hg) in human bone from archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula where the cultural use of cinnabar (HgS) as a pigment, offering or preservative in burial practices has been documented from the 4th to 2nd millennia cal B.C. (Late Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age). Previous analyses have shown high levels of total mercury (THg) in human bone at numerous Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in this region, but the question remains if this mercury entered the bones via diagenetic processes in the soil, especially where cinnabar powder and paint was found associated with the burials, or if it entered the bone via biogenic pathways from exposure to mercury from using cinnabar in life. We analyzed the humerus, femur, and tibia from a total of 30 individual burials from four Neolithic to Bronze Age sites in Iberia and found low to high values of THg in these bones, with the humerus showing significantly more THg concentrations than other skeletal elements when the THg was greater than 1 ppm. This pattern of Hg deposition in skeletal material from different sites and ages strongly suggests a biogenic origin for the mercury. In addition, absence of detectable Hg in bones with high to low values of THg using SEM EDS analysis further discounts diagenetic intrusion of Hg or cinnabar particles into the bone from the soil. It is likely that greater stress and bone remodeling rates from use of heavy tools and other activities in life are responsible for higher THg in the humerus than other skeletal elements, but additional research is needed to verify this. |
publishDate |
2019 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2019-08 2019-08-01T00:00:00Z 2020-04-21T07:59:13Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10451/42981 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10451/42981 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
Emslie, S. D., Alderman, A., McKenzie, A., Brasso, R., Taylor, A. R., Molina Moreno, M., . . . Vijande Vila, E. (2019). Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic? Journal of Archaeological Science, 108 104969. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2019.05.005 0305-4403 10.1016/j.jas.2019.05.005 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
metadata only access info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
metadata only access |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Elsevier |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Elsevier |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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RCAAP |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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