Exposure to Cadmium and Lead in an Agropastoral Iron Age Population

Metals present in the environment (soil, water and atmosphere) can affect food safety and human health through bio‐accumulation and bio‐magnification phenomena. Human exposure to the metals may take place through the environment and by ingesting contaminated food (including water), determining harmful effects usually detectable over the long term. Starting with the Industrial Revolution, local occurrence and concentration of metallic contaminants in the environment have been exponentially increasing: it has been assessed that, nowadays, daily absorption of lead, by North American people, is noticeably greater than that during prehistoric times. In this study, we measured concentrations of cadmium, lead and zinc in 153 bone samples (femurs) of Iron Age inhabitants of Central Italy (Abruzzo): the Samnites from the Alfedena Necropolis (2600–2400 bp ). The data found are in agreement with the results of similar published studies. Heavy metal concentrations varied widely among samples with the exception of zinc. A significant difference (p same Mann–Whitney test <0.05) in cadmium bone levels was found between male (0.08–1.8 mg/kg, median 0.31 mg/kg) and female samples (0.05–1.3 mg/kg, median 0.53 mg/kg). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

古旧纸本字画孳生霉斑的鉴定

古旧纸本字画在保存过程中,易于孳生霉菌病害,霉菌会对纸质文物造成不可逆转的破坏作用。为鉴定字画上孳生的霉菌种类,利用分子生物学方法,对馆藏的几幅古旧字画上孳生的疑似霉斑进行分离、纯化、培养、鉴定,鉴定结果确定霉菌有肉色曲霉Aspergillus carneus、草酸青霉菌Penicillium oxalicum、花斑曲霉Aspergillus versicolor、杂色曲霉Aspergullus versicolor、宛氏拟青霉Paecilomyces varioti Bainier、赤散囊菌Eurotium rubrum、产黄青霉Penicillium Chrysogenum、辐毛小鬼伞Coprinellus radians,此鉴定结果可为进一步的霉斑去除以及防霉技术研究提供科学指导。     

天津博物馆文物库房部分文物与囊匣中霉菌的分离与鉴定

馆藏文物中的书画、古籍、档案、纺织品和竹木漆器等有机质文物,常常受到霉菌的破坏。为了解文物库房有机质文物中霉菌病害现状,寻找适合的防治方法,利用显微形态观察和分子生物学方法,对四个库房内文物材料与囊匣上滋生的霉菌进行采样、培养、分离和鉴定。实验分离出的14株菌株通过形态观察和分子生物学鉴定为6个属,包括毛壳菌属(Chaetomium)、畸枝霉属(Malbranchea)、曲霉属(Aspergillus)、派伦霉属(Peyronellaea)和枝孢属(Cladosporium)等,其中毛壳菌属数量最多,曲霉属次之,多数为能对文物产生危害的常见菌种,亟待采取有效防治措施。实验结果可为今后霉菌的防治工作提供依据。     

药物残留物分析技术的考古学应用

有机残留物分析技术是使用有机化学分析手段鉴定有机残留物的性质和来源的主要方法①。与人类活动有关的有机物,其残留的生化成分残存于考古遗址内多种多样的器物和沉积物中。通过一定的分离和鉴定技术,例如色谱分离和质谱鉴定等适当的技术,可以揭示残留物生物分子成分,从而指示与人类活动相关的有机物及其利用情况,对陶器等用具、工具的功能解读、遗址环境重建、古人类行为复原和食谱分析等方面都可以起到一定程度的辅助作用②、③、④、⑤。古代人类的衣食住行都与植物和动物资源相关,特别是古代人类的医疗活动,根据各种动植物资源的药性药理,治疗各种疾病或者养生健体。由于药物多来源于动植物资源,不易保存,能够保存下来的药材实在少之又少,在考古遗址中关于药物利用的实物证据甚为罕见。因此,残留物分析就成为考古学研究中药物发展史分析的重要手段之一。     

Millet cultivation history in the French Alps as evidenced by a sedimentary molecule

We report on the detection, in a sediment core drilled in Lake Le Bourget (French Alps), of a fossil molecule (miliacin) that was synthesized by broomcorn millet cultivated in the watershed, and then exported to the sediment. The variation in abundance of this molecule allows us reconstructing the history of millet cultivation around Lake Le Bourget. Our results support the introduction of millet around −1700 BC in the region. After an intensive cultivation during the Late Bronze Age, the failure of millet cropping during the Hallstatt period coincides with a phase of climatic deterioration. Millet cultivation recovers during the Roman and Mediaeval periods before falling most probably due to the introduction of more productive cereals. These pioneering results constitute the first continuous record of an agrarian activity covering the last 6000 years and emphasize the close relationships between local hydrology, land use and agro-pastoral activities around Lake Le Bourget.     

Evaluating chloroplast DNA in prehistoric Texas coprolites: medicinal,dietary, or ambient ancient DNA?

Molecular analysis of coprolites from Hinds Cave, Texas recovered chloroplast DNA sequences. The sequences were interpreted as evidence of diet. We analyzed 19 Hinds Cave coprolites to evaluate the potential sources of the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and compared our results to previous studies. This review shows that some cpDNA sequences could be from well-known prehistoric plants foods. Some other sequences could have come from ambient plant material in the guts of small animals eaten by humans in antiquity. Using pollen concentration analysis, we identify sources of ambient plant material which could have been inhaled or imbibed. It is even possible that cpDNA sequences are from proplastids within ambient pollen grains themselves. However, three sequence types cannot be explained as resulting from only dietary or ambient sources. We suggest instead that these might be from medicinal or hallucinogenic plants. We compared these three sequences to existing sequences in the GenBank. We found that these sequences are 100% matches for Rhamnus, Fouquieria, and Solanum.     

生物学和分子生物学在考古学研究中的应用

本文就生物学技术,特别是分子生物学技术在考古学研究中的应用进行了综述。主要介绍植 物硅酸体分析技术在农业起源研究中的应用,人和动物骨骼学应用于人类起源和进化、畜牧业的起 源和发展等研究领域。还简单介绍了分子生物学的一些基础知识。并重点论述了分子生物学技术, 如线粒体ＤＮＡ分析技术和Ｙ－染色体ＤＮＡ分析技术在人类起源和现代人种族起源研究中的应 用。ＤＮＡ分析技术在农作物和家畜的起源和进化研究中亦发挥着作用。     

长沙铜官窑谭家坡遗迹馆内优势病害真菌的分子鉴定

针对长沙铜官窑谭家坡遗迹馆内大肆爆发的微生物病害,为确定造成考古遗迹污染的优势真菌类型,项目组开展了病害真菌的现状调查和快速检测鉴定工作。利用无菌手术刀收集考古遗迹表面典型病害微生物的菌体样品,通过提取样品基因组总DNA、真菌ITS区PCR扩增、构建克隆文库、序列测定和系统发生关系分析等技术完成了病害菌的分子生物学鉴定和类群组成特点分析。结果表明,遗迹馆内考古遗迹表面爆发的主要病害菌为尖孢镰刀菌(Fusarium oxysporum)、白腐菌(Phlebia brevispora)、荷叶离褶伞(Lyophyllum decastes),它们分别隶属于丛赤壳科(Nectriaceae)、伏革菌科(Corticiaceae)、离褶伞科(Lyophyllaceae),均为营腐生真菌,与土壤中木质材料的降解密切相关。考古现场大量的根系残留为病害菌的大肆繁殖提供了重要的营养源,而高的温度和相对湿度是促进病害菌快速生长扩散的主要环境因素。建议人工清除病害菌和根系残留,并对遗迹馆进行适当的环境控制。     

壁画菌害主要种群之分子生物学技术检测

微生物是影响古代壁画安全保存与展示的一个重要因素,其检测是壁画保护研究的重要环节。分子生物学技术通过直接分析微生物遗传物质确定种属,可以避免传统检测技术必需的微生物培养过程,不仅快速、全面,更重要的是能够确定主要致病菌。本研究用分子生物学技术检测中国北方两个5世纪壁画墓,确定导致壁画菌害的主要种群为假诺卡氏菌(Pseudonocardia sp.),为微生物病害治理和预防提供了基本依据。     

Osteometric and molecular sexing of cattle metapodia

Sex identification of skeletal remains based on morphology is a common practice in Zooarchaeology. Knowledge of the sex distribution of slaughtered or hunted animals may help in the interpretation of e.g. hunting or breeding strategies. Here we investigate and evaluate several osteometric criteria used to assess sex of cattle (Bos taurus) metapodia using molecular sex identification as a control of the metric data. The bone assemblage used to assess these new criteria derives from the Eketorp ringfort in the southern parts of Öland Island in Sweden. One hundred metapodia were selected for molecular analysis of sex and we were able to genetically identify the sex of 76 of these elements. The combined results of the molecular and osteometric analyses confirm a significant size difference between females and males for several measurements for both metacarpals (Mc) and metatarsals (Mt). Our results show that some measurements are applicable for metapodials. These measurements include the slenderness indices such as the Mennerich’s index 1 and 3, as well as the distal breadth (Bd), the breadth between the articular crests (Bcr), and the maximum breadth of the lateral trochlea (BFdl). We show that they can be used for sexing of both metacarpals and metatarsals. The latter measurements offer an opportunity to study fragmented elements and thus a higher number of elements may be utilized for morphological sexing of archaeological bones. Size comparisons of Mc and Mt may also aid in the separation of bulls and oxen.