Mineralogical changes in fossil bone from Cueva del Angel, Spain: archaeological implications and occurrence of whitlockite

Monge, Guadalupe; Carretero, Marı́a Isabel; Pozo, Manuel; Barroso, Cecilio

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.033

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The more complex and interesting case concerning the D-1100 burned tooth sample. The spectrum show a new absorption band at ± 630 which indicate that the sample has been heated over 700 ºC [48], and the massive presence of β-TCP (45 wt.%, see Table 2) has strongly deformed the ν4 band due to the overlap with the ν4 band of bioapatite (see the deformation of the peak at 554 cm -1 ), and also the SF calculation appears problematic. In fact, the numerical value (SF = 3.13) is very low if compared to other burned bone samples (see Table 2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A structural approach in the study of bones: fossil and burnt bones at nanosize scale

Piga¹,

Baró²,

Golvano-Escobal³

et al. 2017

inArt 2016

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We review the different factors affecting significantly mineral structure and composition of bones.Particularly, it is assessed that micro-nano-structural and chemical properties of skeleton bones change drastically during burning; the micro-and nano-structural changes attending those phases manifest themselves, amongst others, in observable alterations to the bones colour, morphology, microstructure, mechanical strength and crystallinity.Intense changes involving the structure and chemical composition of bones also occur during the fossilization process. Bioapatite material is contaminated by an heavy fluorination process which, on a long-time scale reduces sensibly the volume of the original unit cell, mainly the a-axis of the 2 hexagonal P63/m space group. Moreover, the bioapatite suffers to a varying degree of extent by phase contamination from the nearby environment, to the point that rarely a fluorapatite single phase may be found in fossil bones here examined.TEM images supply precise and localized information, on apatite crystal shape and dimension, and on different processes that occur during thermal processes or fossilization of ancient bone.complementary to that given by X-ray Diffraction and Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared spectroscopy. We are presenting a synthesis of XRD, ATR-IR and TEM results on the nanostructure of various modern, burned and palaeontological bones.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A structural approach in the study of bones: fossil and burnt bones at nanosize scale

Piga¹,

Baró²,

Golvano-Escobal³

et al. 2017

inArt 2016

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“…From the same region and a similar time depth, WH nodules were identified in the sediments of Elands Bay Cave 53 . WH was also preserved in 400,000 year old sediments from Cueva del Ángel in Spain 54 , in a 17,000 year old layer at Carpenter’s Gap rock shelter in Australia 55 , and in sediments from 2,500 year old open-air ritual immolation sites in the Eastern Alps 56 . These examples indicate that WH and βTCP mineral species can preserve over long periods of time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Formation of Biphasic Hydroxylapatite-Beta Magnesium Tricalcium Phosphate in Heat Treated Salmonid Vertebrae

Butler

Shahack‐Gross

2017

Sci Rep

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Ichthyoarchaeological evidence is uncommon at ancient hunter-gatherer sites from various regions and timeframes. This research contributes to the development of microarchaeological techniques useful for identifying fishing economies in situations where classifiable bones are unavailable. Specifically, traces of heat altered bone mineral in domestic hearths are expected to provide markers for discarded fish remains. We used a series of laboratory incineration experiments to characterize the mineralogy of burned salmonid vertebrae. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction distinguished the formation of beta magnesium tricalcium phosphate (βMgTCP) at temperatures as low as 600 °C. Bones from a sample of game mammals and birds did not form this phase at temperatures below 1,000 °C. We propose that this neoformed mineral can serve as a proxy for hunter-gatherer salmonid fishing when typical ichthyoarchaeological evidence is absent. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, it will be possible to rapidly and inexpensively determine the presence of βMgTCP in fragmentary burned bone remains associated with combustion features. The occurrence of βMgTCP in archaeological hearth features will offer a new means of further evaluating the temporal, geographic, and cultural scope of salmonid harvesting. We also acknowledge the value of biphasic hydroxylapatite-βMgTCP recovered from Atlantic salmon vertebrae as a bioceramic.

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“…Meanwhile, quartz is found in some fossil bones through XRD analysis. This quartz could be related to diagenetic processes and secondary calcite (Monge et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The mineral phase of bones undergoes significant changes while burning. The original mineral in bone is a carbonate-hydroapatite, not hydroxyapatite (Elliott, 2002;Monge et al, 2014;Schmahl et al, 2017). With increased temperature, the carbonate will leave the bone and, from about 500 to 600 °C, the bone mineral progressively reacts to form hydroxyapatite with increasing purity and crystallite size as temperature continues to increase (Shipman et al, 1984;Rogers and Daniels, 2002;Schmahl et al, 2017;Mckinnon et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are numerous researches that focus on analyzing the processes undergone by bones and sediments in archaeological or paleontological sites. In many of those researches, it is common to find that thermal events affected both bones and sediments (Weiner et al, 1993;Person et al, 1995;Stiner et al, 1995;Schiegl et al, 1996;Stiner et al, 2001;Monge et al, 2014). However, the recognition of burned bones from archaeological sites is not straightforward.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence of Fire Use by Homo erectus pekinensis: An XRD Study of Archaeological Bones From Zhoukoudian Locality 1, China

Huang

Gao

2022

Front. Earth Sci.

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Zhoukoudian Locality 1 is well known both for the discovery of Homo erectus fossils and for the presence of early evidence of controlled use of fire by hominins; However, the nature of the latter had been seriously questioned since mid-1980s. To obtain substantial evidence of fire use by hominins, we combine macroscopic observations and XRD analysis on 23 fossil bones from new excavations in Layers 4 and 5. The crystalline index shows that at least 15 fossil bones were heated above 600°C, and this is partly consistent with macroscopic observations. The high intensity burning of bones may indicate strong evidence of hominin-controlled use of fire at Layer 4. Future work should focus on archaeological materials from lower layers to improve our understanding of the nature of colored bones and gain more solid evidence of fire use by early humans at Zhoukoudian.

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Mineralogical changes in fossil bone from Cueva del Angel, Spain: archaeological implications and occurrence of whitlockite

Cited by 16 publications

References 32 publications

A structural approach in the study of bones: fossil and burnt bones at nanosize scale

A structural approach in the study of bones: fossil and burnt bones at nanosize scale

Formation of Biphasic Hydroxylapatite-Beta Magnesium Tricalcium Phosphate in Heat Treated Salmonid Vertebrae

Evidence of Fire Use by Homo erectus pekinensis: An XRD Study of Archaeological Bones From Zhoukoudian Locality 1, China

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