Removal of natural organic dyes from wool–implications for ancient textile provenance studies

Ancient wool textiles recovered from archaeological sites are in many cases originally dyed with natural organic dyestuffs from vegetable sources. These include among others woad (Isatis tinctoria L.), weld (Reseda luteola L.), and madder (Rubia tinctorum L.). These dyestuffs could be a threat to the use of the strontium isotopic system as a tracer for provenance studies of ancient wool, because they could potentially contaminate the signature of the textile's raw material. We present a novel method which allows for efficient removal of organic dyestuffs in wool prior to strontium isotopic analysis. Our method is based on an oxidative release of the dyestuff constituents by ammonium peroxodisulfate [(NH₄)₂S₂O₈] solution, combined with hydrofluoric acid (HF) that has shown to effectively remove/dissolve adhering dust micro-particles. Our multi-analytical results show that such a pretreatment is capable of removing >98% of the originally present organic dyestuffs without significantly destroying the wool structure. The strontium isotopic ratios of the residual wool fraction after the application of the pretreatment are sensitive to the origin and, therefore, can be used as tracers for the provenance of the raw material. We propose to apply this method to ancient wool textiles in which positive identification of organic dyestuff constituents by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was made.     

Assessing the effects of conservation treatments on short sequences of DNA in vitro

Little is known about what effects conservation treatments used to preserve human and animal hard and soft tissues have on DNA preservation. We have developed a method to assess quantitatively the extent of lesions or strand breakage caused by conservation treatments on short sequences of DNA in vitro. The method developed enables the determination of the percentage of DNA preserved following exposure to a conservation treatment solution relative to control samples, thereby allowing the direct comparison of treatments based upon their preserving/damaging effects on a DNA sequence. Forty-three chemicals commonly used in the preparation and/or conservation of human and/or animal remains were examined. We found that the majority were damaging, in particular and as expected, acidic treatments and treatments carried out at elevated temperatures. A few, primarily organic solvents, were not damaging. The approach we have adopted can be applied to screen other treatments either used in the past or for future conservation applications as they are developed to assess their effects on DNA. How these results should be interpreted in terms of conservation and sampling is also discussed.     

Amplification and sequencing of Trichuris trichiura ancient DNA extracted from archaeological sediments

Despite high prevalence of Trichuris trichiura infection, PCR-based analysis on T. trichiura from archaeological samples has not been established so far. In the present study, we sought to perform PCR-based amplification of T. trichiura aDNA using the sediments from medieval tomb of Korea. The presence of Trichuris eggs were first detected by microscopic observation; then confirmed by PCR-based aDNA analysis. Obtained sequence showed 100% homology to that of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSUrRNA) gene of T. trichiura but distinct from that of other Trichuris species. PCR-based aDNA analysis in this study can serve as effective method to confirm the presence of T. trichiura eggs in the soils or coprolites collected from archaeological sites.     

丙烯酸树脂非水分散体加固剂在泥河湾古象足痕迹提取中的应用

泥河湾遗址出土的古象足迹有非常重要的研究价值,而组成足迹印痕的泥土为层状河湖相沉积物,失水容易出现收缩剥离现象导致破坏。为了保护古象足痕迹,采用丙烯酸树脂非水分散体对表面层进行了加固处理,保护处理后的表面层外观改变小,强度提高,不出现收缩开裂和粉碎现象,得到加固处理的象足痕迹通过套箱提取成功地得到搬迁。     

郑玄校《仪礼》从今文本字不从古文通假字考

《仪礼》在汉代有今、古文两种本子.郑玄在给《仪礼》作注时,也对今、古文异文作了校勘,或从今文,或从古文.郑玄兼采今、古文的一条重要义例,就是从本字不从通假字：有从今文本字而不从古文通假字者,亦有从古文本字而不从今文通假字者,因为本字更能贴切地表达经义.遍索《仪礼》中郑玄从今文本字不从古文通假字之字例,凡90条,而一一考辨之.     

A modified sampler for uncontaminated DNA cores from soft sediments

A piston-type mud sampler is described. It is a development of the Livingstone corer and was designed to extract cores for DNA analysis of sediments. Prevention of contamination was paramount. As the entire system is self-contained and the sample is retained in the corer, it was found ideal for extracting very soft sediments which could not be captured by existing corers.     

Why did the ancient inhabitants of Palmyra suffer fluorosis?

The skeletal remains uncovered from the 2nd and 3rd century underground tombs of Palmyra, Syria, retain traces of arthritis and mottled enamel. A brown discoloration was also observed in the teeth. In order to clarify that these facts can be related to fluorosis, the teeth excavated from Tomb C and F in the Southeast Necropolis were analyzed. The fluoride contents of the fluorosis-suspected teeth (0.56 ± 0.16% (n = 7)) were higher than those of normal teeth (0.16 ± 0.18% (n = 7)). The highest content (0.85%) proved that 22% of the hydroxide in apatite was substituted by fluoride. The fluoride concentrations of the natural water including deep well water available today in this area ranged from 0.3 to 3.0 mg l⁻¹. The highest fluoride concentration was found to be regulated by the dissolution equilibrium of fluorite, CaF₂, through the process of evaporation and concentration in this arid region. Because of the common ion effect by calcium ions in a high concentration, the fluoride concentration was lower than that expected from the solubility product of fluorite (8.2 mg l⁻¹). The mechanism of this process has probably remained unchanged since ancient times and therefore the drinking water used by the ancient people of Palmyra was estimated to contain fluoride at a level causing fluorosis.     

Genetic analysis of archaeological wood remains: first results and prospects

A total of 51 ancient oak wood samples originating from various European archaeological sites, dating from the Neolithic period to the 18th century, were assayed for the presence of reproducible chloroplast (cp) DNA sequences. Five polymorphic chloroplast fragments were targeted. Only five of the samples could be fully genetically characterised, revealing four different oak cpDNA haplotypes. In all cases, the haplotypes detected on ancient woods and the haplotypes characterised from fresh samples from the same localities matched. Overall, this congruence is consistent with a genetic continuity between ancient and modern European oaks, confirming the hypothesis that the mapped genetic patterns largely reflect the original structure that established during the post-glacial. This stability of the genetic structure implies that, in the future, the technique could be used to infer or confirm the transport of wood by man, providing interesting perspectives for the genetic analysis of ancient woods.     

Variable nucleotide tandem repeat (VNTR) typing of two palaeopathological cases of lepromatous leprosy from Mediaeval England

Using ancient DNA methods, we have examined in detail two archaeological cases of leprosy from Mediaeval England. The first was a child skeleton with rhino-maxillary changes typical of lepromatous leprosy (LL). The second case was the skeleton of a male adult who showed both typical rhino-maxillary changes and osteitis/periostitis on the leg and foot bones. Bone powder was sampled from both cases and DNA extracts were prepared. These were subjected to a series of polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) specific for regions on the Mycobacterium leprae genome. The repetitive element RLEP was used for confirmation of M. leprae DNA and then three polymorphic regions were successfully amplified and sequenced to determine the number of variable nucleotide tandem repeats (vntr) at these loci. These were the microsatellite regions ML2344 and ML2172 and the minisatellite region ML0058. Genotyping data from the strains preserved within the skeletal remains were compared with those obtained for a reference strain of M. leprae. Variation at these three loci was found between both burials and the reference strain, indicating that vntr typing of LL cases from the archaeological record is a useful way of confirming disease and an additional means of authenticating aDNA data. This demonstrates the feasibility of targeting multiple loci for phylogenetic studies of leprosy strains from archival sources.     

透光摄影在古书画修复与研究中的应用

透光摄影由常规可见光摄影发展而来，是针对中国古书画等能被可见光穿透的文物开发的一项无损摄影检测技术。通过实践发现透光摄影在古书画的修复与研究领域具有多项作用：观察书画命纸、背纸拼接等装裱情况；发现前人加固、补缀等修复痕迹；获取画面底稿内容；强化伤况视觉效果以便于分析文物伤况病害。透光摄影能够提供直观可靠的深层视觉信息，辅助修复人员了解文物内部状态，在古书画的修复与研究中发挥重要作用。