Archaeological degradation

Collins, M.J., Riley, M.S., Child, A.M. and Turner-Walker, G. 1995 A basic mathematical simulation of the chemical degradation of ancient collagen. Journal of Archaeological Science 22 175-183. 

Since isotopic alteration has been shown for experimentally degraded bone, the same should hold for archaeological human bones that have amino... 

Crestini, C., N. M. N. El Hadidi, and G. Paleschi (2000), Towards the understanding of oxidative degradation processes in archaeological wood, in Book of Abstracts, 219th American Chemical Society National Mtg., San Francisco, March 26-30. 

Mottran, H. R., S. N. Dudd, G. J. Lawrence, A. W. Stott, and R. P. Evershed (1999), New chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable isotope approaches to the classification of degraded animal fats preserved in archaeological pottery,. Chro-matogr. A 833, 209-221. 

All these data are not of the same significance for detecting and identifying natural substances in complex and degraded mixtures usually present in samples from archaeological or museum items. 

Sterols are seldom detected in archaeological residues due to their low concentration and the tendency to undergo chemical degradation. In any case, the presence of sterols or of their oxidation products in a sample can help distinguish between animal and plant lipid materials cholesterol is the most abundant animal sterol, while campesterol and sitosterol are the two major plant ones. 

Butzer, K.W. 2005. Environmental history in the Mediterranean world Cross-disciplinary investigation of cause-and-effect for degradation and soil erosion. Journal of Archaeological Science, 32, 1773-1800. 

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