Iteresting articles: Journal of Archaeological Science

Trace element fingerprinting of ancient Chinese gold with femtosecond laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry

Lynn B. Brostoff (a), Jhanis J. Gonza´ lez (b), Paul Jett (c), Richard E. Russo (b)

(a)Library of Congress, Preservation Research and Testing Division, 101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
(b) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA 

(c)The Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA

In this collaborative investigation, femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled mass spectrometry

(LA-ICP-MS) was applied to the study of a remarkable group of ancient Chinese gold objects in the
Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Taking advantage of the superior
ablation characteristics and high precision of a femtosecond 266 nm Ti:sapphire laser at Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, major, minor and trace element concentrations in the gold fragments were
quantified. Results validate use of femtosecond LA-ICP-MS for revealing ‘‘fingerprints’’ in minute gold
samples. These fingerprints allow us to establish patterns based on the association of silver, palladium
and platinum that support historical, technical and stylistic relationships, and shed new light on these
ancient objects.
2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 461–466

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Iteresting articles: Journal of Archaeological Science

Burned bone in the Howieson’s Poort and post-Howieson’s Poort Middle Stone

Age deposits at Sibudu (South Africa): behavioral and taphonomic implications

Jamie L. Clark a,b,*, Bertrand Ligouis c

a Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, PO Box 750336, Dallas, TX 75275, USA

b Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

c Laboratory for Applied Organic Petrology, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, and Zentrum für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Eberhard-

Karls-Universität Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72072 Tübingen, Germany

a b s t r a c t

Despite a growing awareness of the wide range of information that can be provided by detailed analyses

of burned bone from archaeological contexts, such analyses are still relatively uncommon. This paper

focuses on the behavioral and taphonomic implications of burned bone from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Sibudu Cave (South Africa), reporting on the analysis of a large sample (>377,000 fragments) of bone recovered from the Howieson’s Poort (HP) and post-HP MSA deposits at the site. Faunal remains were initially sorted into burning categories based on changes in color; microscopic analyses focused on the optical properties of the bone matrix (degree of preservation of the bone structure, reflectance and fluorescence) indicated that the color is a valid indicator of thermally altered bone in the Sibudu assemblage. The association of burned bone with hearths, the intensity of burning damage, and the sheer quantity of thermally altered bone suggests that the bone was not burned primarily as a result of natural fires.We propose that the high incidence of burned bone primarily reflects two types of site maintenance activities: first, the discarding of bone into fire as a means of disposing of food waste (as also argued by Cain [2005, Using burned animal bone to look at Middle Stone Age occupation and behavior. J. Archaeol. Sci. 32, 873e884], for a smaller sample of material from the post-HP and late MSA deposits at the site), and second, the incidental burning of bone on/near the surface during the periodic burning of plantbased bedding. In considering the taphonomic implications of the burned bone, we demonstrate that calcined bone is in fact more heavily fragmented than unburnt or moderately burned bone. Furthermore, cortical preservation was negatively correlated with the intensity of burning damage, which has implications for the study of surface modifications. These results indicate the importance of conducting thorough taphonomic analyses prior to making comparisons between units that show differing degrees or intensities of burning damage.

2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 2650-2661

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas

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Interesting article: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

Early diagenesis of bone and tooth apatite in fluvial and marine settings: Constraints from combined oxygen isotope, nitrogen and REE analysis.                                                                       
T. Tütken(ab), T.W. Vennemann (c),H.-U. Pfretzschner (d)

(a)Institut für Geowissenschaften, Arbeitsbereich für Mineralogie und Geodynamik, Abteilung, Geochemie, Universität Tübingen, Wilhelmstrasse 56, 72074 Tübingen, Germany

(b)Steinmann Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Paläontologie, Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115 Bonn, Germany

(c)Institut de Minéralogie et Géochimie, Université de Lausanne, BFSH 2, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

(d)Institut für Geowissenschaften, Arbeitsbereich Biogeologie und Angewandte Paläontologie, Sigwart Strasse 10, Universität Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

A B S T R A C T

Fossil bones and teeth of Late Pleistocene terrestrial mammals from Rhine River gravels (RS) and the North Sea (NS), that have been exposed to chemically and isotopically distinct diagenetic fluids (fresh water versus seawater), were investigated to study the effects of early diagenesis on biogenic apatite. Changes in phosphate oxygen isotopic composition (δ18OPO4), nitrogen content (wt.% N) and rare earth element (REE) concentrations were measured along profiles within bones that have not been completely fossilized, and in skeletal tissues (bone, dentine, enamel) with different susceptibilities to diagenetic alteration. Early diagenetic changes of elemental and isotopic compositions of apatite in fossil bone are related to the loss of the stabilizing collagen matrix. The REE concentration is negatively correlated with the nitrogen content, and therefore the amount of collagen provides a sensitive proxy for early diagenetic alteration. REE patterns of RS and NS bones indicate initial fossilization in a fresh water fluid with similar REE compositions. Bones from both settings have nearly collagen-free, REE-, U-, F- and Sr-enriched altered outer rims, while the collagen-bearing bone compacta in the central part often display early diagenetic pyrite void-fillings. However, NS bones exposed to Holocene seawater have outer rim δ18OPO4 values that are 1.1 to 2.6‰ higher compared to the central part of the same bones (δ18OPO4=18.2±0.9‰, n=19). Surprisingly, even the collagenrich bone compacta with low REE contents and apatite crystallinity seems altered, as NS tooth enamel (δ18OPO4=15.0±0.3‰, n=4) has about 3‰ lower δ18OPO4 values, values that are also similar to those of enamel from RS teeth. Therefore, REE concentration, N content and apatite crystallinity are in this case only poor proxies for the alteration of δ18OPO4 values. Seawater exposure of a few years up to 8 kyr can change the δ18OPO4 values of the bone apatite by N3‰. Therefore, bones fossilized in marine settings must be treated with caution for palaeoclimatic reconstructions. However, enamel seems to preserve pristine δ18OPO4 values on this time scale. Using species-specific calibrations for modern mammals, a mean δ18OH2O value can be reconstructed for Late Pleistocene mammalian drinking water of around −9.2±0.5‰, which is similar to that of Late Pleistocene groundwater from central Europe.

Keywords: Bones, Teeth, Oxygen, isotopes, Rare earth elements, Diagenesis, Phosphate

© 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 266 (2008) 254-268

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Interesting article; Archaeometry (2011)

PROVENANCING FLINT ARTEFACTS WITH ICP–MS USING

REE SIGNATURES AND Pb ISOTOPES AS DISCRIMINANTS:

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A CASE STUDY FROM
NORTHERN SWEDENA. OLOFSSON†

Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden

and I. RODUSHKIN, ALS Scandinavia AB, Aurorum 10, S-977 75, Luleå, Sweden

Archaeological flint artefacts from the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic site of Vuollerim, northern

Sweden, have been geochemically investigated with ICP–SFMS and MC–ICP–MS in

search for the geological/geographical origin of the non-local flint. The Vuollerim flints were

compared with reference samples from Denmark (Cretaceous/Tertiary flint) and Russia (Carboniferous

flint). Elemental concentrations as well as elemental ratios for REEs and isotopic

ratios for Pb and Sr are presented. Significant differences were found between different

geological/geographical contexts. Two of the Vuollerim samples can be ascribed a South

Scandinavian origin. Possibly also eastern flint is present, although the results are not

conclusive in this case.

KEYWORDS:

NORTHERN SWEDEN, ICP–SFMS, MC–ICP–MS, CHERT, FLINT, PROVENANCE

STUDY, REE, Pb ISOTOPES

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NEWS: "GREEN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY" 1st Workshop

 The 28th of January 2011 has been presented in the "GREEN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY"1st Workshop, at the University of Valencia, "Archaeological bones" as oral communication.

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Evaluating bacterial pathogen DNA preservation in museum osteological collections

Ian Barnes1,2,* and Mark G. Thomas1

1Department of Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
2School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 OEX, UK

Reports of bacterial pathogen DNA sequences obtained from archaeological bone specimens raise thepossibility of greatly improving our understanding of the history of infectious diseases. However, the survival of pathogen DNA over long time periods is poorly characterized, and scepticism remains about he reliability of these data. In order to explore the survival of bacterial pathogen DNA in bone specimens, we analysed samples from 59 eighteenth and twentieth century individuals known to have been infected with either Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Treponema pallidum. No reproducible evidence of surviving pathogen DNA was obtained, despite the use of extraction and PCR-amplification methods determined to be highly sensitive. These data suggest that previous studies need to be interpreted with caution, and we propose that a much greater emphasis is placed on understanding how pathogen DNA survives in archaeological material, and how its resence can be properly verified and used.

Keywords: ancient DNA; tuberculosis; syphilis; bone; evolution; medicine .

Proc. R. Soc. B (2006) 273, 645–653
doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3339
Published online 13 December 2005

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