Induced metal-ion exchange in excavated human bone

Excavated human bone was exposed to aqueous solutions containing high concentrations of a single added metal ion in order to examine the extent of introduction of contaminating materials during burial. Variables included pH, temperature, ion concentration, state of bone (whole or crushed), structure of buffer, and counterion. Calcium and sodium showed little increase, and even a decrease in some cases. Strontium, zinc, lead, and magnesium showed large increases probably through heteroionic replacement of calcium. Manganese, aluminum, and potassium showed increases, particularly under neutral conditions, probably through infiltration into voids and defects.     

Reviews

Shi^cite Islam: Polity, Ideology, and Creed , Yann Richard, trans. Antonia Nevill, Oxford, U.K. and Cambridge, U.S.A.: Blackwell, 1995, pp. 217, chronology, glossary, bibliography, index.

Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk‐Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281 , Reuven Amitai‐Preiss, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, xv + 272 pp.

The Bukharans: A Dynastic, Diplomatic and Commercial History 1550–1702 , Audrey Burton, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1997, 664 pp.

Cahiers d'Asie Centrale, No. 1/2 (1996): Inde‐Asie centrale. Routes du commerce et des idées , Tashkent: l'Institut Français d'études sur l'Asie centrale/Aix‐en‐Provence: Editions Edisud, 1996, 366 pp.

The Diary of H.M. Shah of Persia during his tour through Europe in A.D. 1873 , trans. from the Persian by J.W. Redhouse, London, 1874, reprinted 1995, with a new introduction by Carole Hillenbrand, Bibliotheca Iranica. Reprint Series No. 2, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, Calif., [xvi] + xi + 427 pp.

Presse und Öffentlichkeit im Nahen Osten , Christoph Herzog, Raoul Motika, and Anja Pistor‐Hatam, eds., Heidelberg: Heidelberger Orientverlag, 1995, viii + 183 pp.

The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 1910–1956 , Stephanie Cronin, London: Tauris Academic Studies, 1997, 296 pp., 3 appendices.

The Republic of Armenia, Volume III: From London to Sèvres, February‐August, 1920; Volume IV: Between Crescent and Sickle: Partition and Sovietization , Richard Hovannisian, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996, xx + 534 pp., xii + 496 pp.

Majlis va Intikhabat: az Mashrūtah ta Payan‐i Qajar , Mansoureh Ettehadieh (Nezam‐Mafi), Tehran: Nashr‐i Tarikh‐i Iran, 1375/1996–97, 368 pp.

L'Iran au XXe siècle , Jean‐Pierre Digard, Bernard Hourcade, Yann Richard, Paris: Fayard, 1996, 459 pp.

The Shi^cis of Iraq , Yitzhak Nakash, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994, xiv + 312 pp., cloth and paperback.

Debating Religion and Politics in Iran: The Political Thought of Abdolkarim Sorush , Valla Vakili, New York, N.Y.: Studies Department, Occasional Paper Series, no. 2, The Council on Foreign Relations, Inc., 1996, 56 pp.

Tanker Wars: The Assault on Merchant Shipping during the Iran‐Iraq Conflict, 1980–1988 , Martin S. Navias and E. R. Horton, London and New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1996, ix + 244 pp., including appendix, notes, index of ships, and general index. Cloth.

The Turbulent Gulf: People, Politics and Power , 2nd ed., Liesl Graz, London and New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1992. 311 pp., including notes, appendices, bibliography, and index. Paperback.

The Topkapi Scroll: Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture , Gülru Necipo?lu, with an essay on the geometry of the muqarnas by Mohammad al‐Asad, Santa Monica: Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1995, xiii + 395, plates, plan, bibliography, index, $160.00.

Techniques et ressources en Iran du 7e au 19e siècle , Parviz Mohebbi, Tehran: Institut Français de Recherche en Iran, 1996.

Suppressed Persian: An Anthology of Forbidden Literature , Paul Sprachman, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, lviii + 111 pp., $29.95.