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Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic?

2019-08Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorEmslie, Steven D.
dc.contributor.authorAlderman, Audrey
dc.contributor.authorMcKenzie, Ashley
dc.contributor.authorBrasso, Rebecka
dc.contributor.authorTaylor, Alison R.
dc.contributor.authorMolina Moreno, Maria
dc.contributor.authorCambra-Moo, Oscar
dc.contributor.authorGonzalez Martin, Armando
dc.contributor.authorSilva, Ana Maria
dc.contributor.authorValera, António Carlos
dc.contributor.authorGarcia Sanjuan, Leonardo
dc.contributor.authorVijande Vila, Eduardo
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-24T10:51:51Z
dc.date.available2020-07-24T10:51:51Z
dc.date.issued2019-08
dc.description.abstractWe 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.
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF) [ECCS-1542174]
dc.description.sponsorshipSpanish GovernmentSpanish Government [HAR2016-78036-P, HAR2016-74846-P, HAR2017-82755-P, HAR2017-83004-P, I + D HAR2017-87324-P]
dc.description.sponsorshipCIAS [PEst-OE/SADG/UI0283/2019]
dc.description.sponsorshipFCTPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [PTDC/EPH-ARQ/0798/2014]
dc.description.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jas.2019.05.005
dc.identifier.issn0305-4403
dc.identifier.issn1095-9238
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/14279
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherAcademic Press Ltd- Elsevier Science Ltd
dc.subjectTrace-elements
dc.subjectHuman remains
dc.subjectHip-joint
dc.subjectCinnabar
dc.subjectLead
dc.subjectSpain
dc.subjectHgs
dc.subjectIdentification
dc.subjectContamination
dc.subjectAccumulation
dc.titleMercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic?
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.startPage104969
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Archaeological Science
oaire.citation.volume108
person.familyNameValera
person.givenNameAntónio
person.identifier.ciencia-id8117-9E53-B540
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-5492-3810
person.identifier.scopus-author-id44261524700
rcaap.rightsrestrictedAccess
rcaap.typearticle
relation.isAuthorOfPublication58824f61-0881-4548-9b91-77f47d22166a
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery58824f61-0881-4548-9b91-77f47d22166a

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