Adipocere Inside Nineteenth Century Femora: The Effect of Grave Conditions.

Adipocere has, infrequently, been reported from archaeological contexts normally on the external surface of bodies. In contrast to those cases, this study focuses on a white, powdery and greasy substance found inside two right human femora during sampling. These samples were obtained from two identified individuals buried in the late 19th century, who were exhumed from a rock‐cut and a brick‐lined grave in a steeply sloping graveyard with wet soil conditions. Both individuals were buried in coffins. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to test the composition of the substances, and both were found to conform to the spectrum of adipocere. This is likely to be a breakdown product of the fats in bone marrow in an anaerobic, moist environment mediated by bacteria. None of the other individuals (n = 6) buried in similar graves displayed evidence of adipocere; this includes those whose femora were in a similar state of preservation (n = 4). Contemporaneous data on precipitation for the month of burials do not highlight any obvious trends, but one of the individuals was found in a water‐logged grave. The similar preservation of other femora buried in brick‐lined graves highlights the interplay of multiple factors in the formation and degradation of adipocere. More importantly, it demonstrates differential preservation, which may impact on DNA and other biomolecular research. Furthermore, this adds to the limited data currently available on adipocere found in archaeological contexts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Re-examining the chemical evaluation of diagenesis in human bone apatite

Isotopic analysis of human bone is becoming an increasingly important tool for the archaeologist in divining past life-ways. The isotopic ratios within bone are often assumed to be preserved as in life, but diagenetic change can alter the ratios, invalidating the results of isotopic analysis. Diagenesis can be evaluated in a number of ways, but most often spectroscopic techniques are utilised as the most efficient and easiest to understand methods for the archaeologist. Many isotopic studies do not report the possibility of diagenetic change, and if it is reported it has often been quantified using a single method of chemical analysis, FTIR spectroscopy. This study set out to test the value of FTIR analysis using human remains from the prehistoric site of Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand, and to compare the results with the non-destructive technique of FT-Raman spectroscopy. The study shows that FTIR spectroscopic analysis gives far less detail on the condition of bone than Raman spectroscopy, which does not merely indicate recrystallisation has occurred, but also shows clearly whether or not collagen is present, allows identification of ionic substitions which have occurred and identification of secondary minerals which have formed. Raman spectroscopy, combined with LA-ICP-MS analysis also revealed that soil composition and groundwater flow are the conditions which most affect diagenesis at Ban Non Wat.     

Suppressing the Mad Elephant: Missionaries,Lamas, and the Mediation of Sacred Historiographies in the Tibetan Borderlands

The late-nineteenth century was a time of Protestant missionary enthusiasm for the “great closed land” of Tibet. Their prodigious, oftentimes proto-ethnographic, writings continue to provide scholars with archives that document missionary perspectives on Inner Asian society and religion, but few sources have yet emerged that allow for these to be read alongside Tibetan accounts of Christian-Buddhist encounters. This article undertakes such a parallel reading of four accounts of an unsuccessful attempt by the British missionary Cecil Polhill to convert an eastern Tibetan Buddhist abbot, Māyang Pa??ita, in late 1889. Understanding these texts as conflicting sacred historiographies, we note that these Christian and Buddhist writers shared a commitment to writing and to particular modes of emotional, material, and logical mediation as the “correct” path to religious certainty. Differences in genre, however, lead more to mockery and misunderstanding than to each side’s desired transformation of the other..     

Moving peoples,changing diets: isotopic differences highlight migration and subsistence changes in the Upper Mun River Valley,Thailand

The dramatic growth of dietary isotope studies in archaeological literature attests to the significant potential this technique has for shedding light on past societies. Human diet reflects complex, inter-linked factors such as status, cultural preferences or environmental constraints on food production. In this study dietary isotope analysis is used to examine the human skeletal remains from Ban Non Wat, northeast Thailand. The study aims to use isotopic data to give insight into patterns of migration and subsistence strategy during prehistory. Ban Non Wat is the most comprehensively excavated site in the Upper Mun River Valley (UMRV), and understanding of prehistoric society in this area is crucial to answering questions of how social complexity arose in the region. Carbon isotope analysis has highlighted migrant individuals invisible to strontium isotope analysis and shown links between unusual burial practice and differences in diet. Results also indicate that diet changed substantially through time, with more reliance on rice in the Bronze Age, correlated with an increase in social differentiation. There is a move away from reliance on rice agriculture in the Iron Age, a time when oxygen isotopes show that environmental conditions were becoming drier, possibly resulting in rice agriculture becoming less viable.     

Preliminary geochemical assessment of limestone resources and stone use at Maya sites in the Three Rivers Region,Belize

The carbonate bedrock of northwestern Belize is poorly understood from the standpoint of both geochemistry and the use of stone in prehispanic Maya sites for buildings and monuments. The friable nature of the rock in this topographically rugged area makes it especially difficult to distinguish monuments from bedrock spall, as little carving, if any, survives, and identification rests on location and positioning. The research presented here analyzed 63 limestone samples collected from two sites in the Three Rivers Region of Belize. ICP-MS and ICP-AES were used to characterize the major, minor, and trace element chemistry of the limestone bedrock of the region and determine the amount of geochemical variability. Another important objective was attempting to trace the movement of monument stone and determining whether it was imported from outside of the sites. Bedrock, quarries, and possible monuments were all sampled for these purposes. Bedrock proved to be similar across wide areas. However, at Chawak But'o'ob, along the flank of the Rio Bravo, changes downslope in Mg concentration suggest a leaching of the bedrock by meteoric waters based on differences in porosity. At Maax Na, a hilltop site, in contrast, such leaching is not as apparent. Many monuments at both sites were found to be composed of stone similar in chemistry to the local bedrock, including several of the identifiable stelae. However, our analyses also revealed that a few monuments at Maax Na were made of material with a different chemical composition, apparently from stone imported to the site. These results suggest that the Maya deliberately selected certain types of limestone for certain purposes, and may even have traded in non-local rock. Overall, the methods used in this pilot study indicate there is real potential in more intensive, regional assessments of the materials used at archaeological sites, even in areas where the local stone does not have a distinctive geochemical signature.