Boiled versus unboiled: a study on Neolithic and contemporary human bones

Bones treated at low temperature do not present major modifications although, macroscopically, boiled bones may be distinguished from unboiled ones as they are smoother, lighter and more transparent. Such observations should correspond to textural modifications at a nanometric level and should depend on boiling time. In this study, contemporary human bones, boiled during various time intervals, were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen adsorption (BET). The results were used to estimate the boiling time in four archaeological samples (Neolithic bones from Malalmuerzo cave, Spain). It is concluded, comparing Neolithic bones to contemporary ones and from the textural characterization at a nanometrical level, that two of the archaeological bones were boiled and that they were boiled for less than 6 hours.     

Changes in human bones boiled in seawater

The differences between boiled or unboiled bones are not often studied. However, they are crucial to understand postmortem rituals and to establish defleshing procedures and mortuary practices. In this work, human bones boiled in sea or fresh water are characterized. The bone composition, as well as the compounds present in the resulting materials, shows that salt alters the boiling process mechanism. Hence, from structural and morphological criteria, it is possible to distinguish if a bone has been boiled in salt or fresh water. In both sets of samples, the smoothness of the bone surface depends on boiling time, but only in bones boiled in seawater, filaments are observed apparently pouring out of the pores.Those differences which are mainly morphological (smoothness of the surface) are explained in terms of a collagen diffusional mechanism favored by sodium and chloride ions. For a boiling time of 6 h, the surface is covered by a thick layer or crusts of degraded collagen. Experiments with seawater may be used as model experiments to simulate taphonomical alterations in bones exposed to salt water.     

New parameters for the characterization of diagenetic alterations and heat-induced changes of fossil bone mineral using Fourier transform infrared spectrometry

Diagenetic alteration may limit the potential use of the biogenic composition of fossil bone as a reliable source of information for dietary, environmental and climatic reconstructions. One of the key parameters used to determine the state of preservation of fossil remains is their crystallinity. This can be evaluated by means of infrared spectroscopy, measuring the “splitting factor” (IRSF). However, the crystallinity may fail to describe the extent of chemical and mineralogical changes occurring during fossilization, and cannot be used alone as a reliable indicator of biogenic signal preservation.     

羟基磷灰石材料在文物保护中的应用述评

作为一种新兴无机材料,羟基磷灰石近年来在石灰岩、钙质砂岩和甲骨等文物的保护领域得到了广泛的研究和应用。本研究就羟基磷灰石材料本身的特点、保护原理及应用研究现状进行了阐释与评述,指出了其借鉴意义,并展望了羟基磷灰石保护材料研究的发展方向。     

Decorated prehistoric pottery from Castello di Annone (Piedmont,Italy): archaeometric study and pilot comparison with coeval analogous finds

Prehistoric pottery decorated with incisions or impressions filled with white and seldom coloured inlays is well documented in the archaeological literature, but the related in-depth archaeometric studies are sporadic. 43 decorated ceramic shards, dating from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, and an Iron Age fibula from the archaeological site of Castello di Annone (Piedmont, North-Western Italy) were analysed with FTIR, Raman and XRPD for characterization of the ornamental pigments forming these inlays. Few white components were used as fillers, namely talc and bone ash (hydroxyapatite – Bone White), often as a mixture and seldom accompanied by other pigments (i.e. kaolinite and presumably secondary calcite). Comparison with freshly-heated biogenic hydroxyapatite proved that ancient Bone White pigment was calcined at about 900 °C. Such a process was kept separate from pottery firing as these white mixtures show absence of talc degradation by-products and sporadic presence of kaolinite, implying these ceramics were decorated only after firing in furnace. Actual presence of fluorapatite in bone ash could allow dating with the Fluorine Method, but lack of fluorine detection with SEM-EDS causes such an attempt to be impracticable so far. A pilot comparative study with a restricted but representative group (11) of coeval finds from other sites of Piedmont suggests that while recurrence of talc prevails in Castello di Annone from the Neolithic throughout the Bronze age, massive use of bone ash (Bone White) becomes widespread in the close Iron Age settlements, possibly consequent to a more efficient handling of its production technology.     

Characterization and textural analysis of Middle Bronze Age Transdanubian inlaid wares of the Encrusted Pottery Culture,Hungary: a preliminary study

Inlaid ceramics belonging to the Encrusted Pottery Culture and dated to the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1500 BC) are highly distinctive vessels with complex decorative motifs found in large numbers in the Transdanubia region of Hungary. Despite this considerable corpus of material there has been little systematic investigation of the composition of the inlays. Micro-analysis of Transdanubian inlaid wares by X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provides new compositional, structural and textural information on the inlays. In contrast to common statements in the literature regarding the materials used to make inlays, these new data show that the majority of inlays are composed of hydroxyapatite (bone) that was previously ashed, although some of the inlays are composed of calcium carbonate. Additional compositional and textural variation in the bone inlays suggests that bone material from different skeletal elements and/or of different age may have been used, and that contrasting recipes for inlay preparation were employed during fabrication. These results suggest that the production of inlaid vessels of the Encrusted Pottery Culture was more complex than has hitherto been thought.     

矿化溶液浸泡-气体扩散法加固骨质文物

本研究探讨了以钙源、磷酸盐源、胶原蛋白矿化溶液浸泡—气体扩散多循环法加固古代骨骼材料的工艺方法，并利用超景深显微镜、傅里叶转换红外光谱(FT-IR)、X射线衍射仪、扫描电镜和色度分析法、抗压强度试验等方法研究了保护效果。结果表明，利用该工艺处理后的生物磷灰石骨骼具有加固材料成分和骨质本体一致，原位合成且深入到骨质内部等特点，克服了有机聚合物及其他矿物材料简单物理充填的一些弊端，且处理过程简单、效率高、外观改变小，能满足对脆弱骨质文物、人骨及其他动物骨骼的加固保护需求。     

西安小居安墓地出土武周时期微雕的检测分析

2020年3月西安市长安区小居安村建设工程项目M19中出土了一批武周时期微雕器物,该批器物造型精致,且同类器物出土较少,罕有相关研究,为明确其材质、工艺,采用超景深显微镜、便携式X荧光光谱仪、扫描电镜-能谱仪、傅里叶变换红外光谱仪对其进行科学分析。结果表明,微雕的成形与彩绘工艺包含刮削、打磨、钻孔、抛光、贴金等,其微雕本体材料是以Ca、P为主要元素的羟基磷酸钙,结合风化后普遍存在的蜂窝状孔洞,认为其材质应为骨质。