Bone diagenesis in the medieval cemetery of Vratislavs’ Palace in Prague

Viani, Alberto; Machová, Dita; Mácová, Petra; Mali, Gregor; Velemínský, Petr

doi:10.1007/s12520-021-01286-4

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Anyway, the neutral-mild alkaline pH of the burial environment might have inhibited the chemical hydrolysis of collagen (Collins et al, 2002), being favored by pore-water fluctuations and extreme pH values (Delannoy et al, 2018;High et al, 2015;. However, it must be noted that, during burial, the degree of collagen preservation is extremely heterogeneous (Caruso et al, 2018(Caruso et al, , 2020, since it depends both on the environmental settings (i.e., pH, temperature, humidity, and soil composition) and on in vivo bone structures (Caruso et al, 2018(Caruso et al, , 2020(Caruso et al, , 2021Collins et al, 2002;Gatti et al, 2022;Hollund et al, 2013;Keenan et al, 2015;Lebon et al, 2011Lebon et al, , 2016Reiche et al, 2010;Trueman & Martill, 2002;Turner-Walker, 2012;Viani et al, 2021).…”

Section: Organo-mineral and Chemical Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new laboratory‐based method to experimentally induce diagenetic modifications in human bone tissue using archaeological gravesoils

Caruso,

Marinoni,

Diella

et al. 2024

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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The conditions of the burial environment trigger microstructural modifications and physical‐chemical changes in the bone, such as chemical dissolution, increase of crystallinity, chemical exchanges, collagen degradation and changes in porosity, hence to reproduce these patterns is a challenging task. This work presents a new method to accelerate the diagenetic processes in the laboratory. Artificial aging is obtained by immersion at 80°C in “enriched” solutions derived from the leaching of gravesoils, maintaining the same pH, for 1 month, on modern bones collected from an autopsy. Two distinct solutions from two graves of the necropolis of Travo (IT) (7th–8th century AD) were adopted. The induced damage patterns, on the bone microstructure and the organo‐mineral fraction, have been compared with those observed on buried skeletal elements from the same graves, by providing a multi‐analytical approach (BSE‐SEM, EMPA, FT‐IR, MP‐AES). Bioapatite parameters, such as crystallinity index and Ca/P molar ratio, evolved similarly and, in some cases, reached the same values of buried bones. Conversely, in the absence of microbial activity, the organic fraction better survived the artificial aging. For the same reason, the porosity due to bioerosion was absent in the artificially aged samples, whereas the biological pores and the post‐mortem fractures exhibited the same histomorphology. It is believed that the opportunity of reproducing the diagenetic changes by replicating the chemical environment of the burial site at the laboratory scale is of great interest to forensic science and archaeology (e.g., to reconstruct the burial environment).

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Section: Organo-mineral and Chemical Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new laboratory‐based method to experimentally induce diagenetic modifications in human bone tissue using archaeological gravesoils

Caruso,

Marinoni,

Diella

et al. 2024

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…Current studies are getting more complex and include a larger number of chemical elements 30,35,36 , combining them with the study of soil micromorphology 15,37,38 and complement bone diagenesis research with soil analysis 39,40 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Necrosol pedogenetical processes in post-Roman burials developed on dunes sands

García-López

Cortizas

Álvarez-Fernández

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Interaction between human remains and sediments starts after inhumation, leading to physico-changes and the development of a Necrosol, a type of soil seldom considered in archaeological research. In this study we analysed for physical (grain size, colour) and chemical (pH; LOI; elemental composition: FTIR-ATR, XRF, C and N) properties of soil samples from i) two graves from the post-Roman funerary area of A Lanzada (NW Spain) and ii) samples of a paleosol (coeval with the burials) from a nearby pedo-sedimentary sequence. The aim was to characterize Necrosol composition and pedogenesis and compare them with a reference soil. Principal component analysis of the dataset enabled to identify five pedogenetical processes: decalcification, melanization, acidification, neoformation of secondary minerals and enrichment in phosphorus. Overall, Necrosol pedogenesis was found to be of lower intensity than that of the reference soil (differing between burials), but some processes seem to be specific of the Necrosol formation (i.e., enrichment in phosphorous). Our results allow a proper description of the Necrosol and the funerary ritual followed by post-Roman inhabitants of A Lanzada. The characteristic Necrosol pedogenesis makes this soil a valuable archive that provides complementary information for the study of skeletal remains.

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Scratching the surface? A histotaphonomic study of human remains at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

Haddow

Mazzucato

Mangaloğlu-Votruba

et al. 2023

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Bone diagenesis in the medieval cemetery of Vratislavs’ Palace in Prague

Cited by 6 publications

References 96 publications

A new laboratory‐based method to experimentally induce diagenetic modifications in human bone tissue using archaeological gravesoils

A new laboratory‐based method to experimentally induce diagenetic modifications in human bone tissue using archaeological gravesoils

Understanding Necrosol pedogenetical processes in post-Roman burials developed on dunes sands

Scratching the surface? A histotaphonomic study of human remains at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

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