Human bones as archaeological samples

El-Kammar, A., R. G. V. Hancock, and R. O. Allen (1989), Human bones as archaeological samples Changes due to contamination and diagenesis, in Allan, R. O. (ed.), Archaeological Chemistry, Advances in Chemistry Series, Vol. 4, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC. 

Use of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (1CP-MS) coupled to a laser-ablation sample introduction system (LA-ICP-MS) as a minimally destructive method for chemical characterization of archaeological materials has gained favor during the past few years. Although still a relatively new analytical technique in archaeology, LA-ICP-MS has been demonstrated to be a productive avenue of research for chemical characterization of obsidian, chert, pottery, painted and glazed surfaces, and human bone and teeth. Archaeological applications of LA-ICP-MS and comparisons with other analytical methods are described. 

In order to reconstruct human diet from bone tissue, direct isotopic analysis of animal and plant remains from the same archaeological context is the most reliable way to detect isotopic shifts involving the whole ecosystem due to environmental variation. Since this is often impossible for the lack of these control samples, we have explored the use of 8I80 to assess the environmentally induced variation in 8I3C and 8ISN values from collagen and apatite, and assess the dietary information they represent. This can be done assuming a scarce nutritional role of marine resources and the absence of C4 crops, as seems to be the case in the western Mediterranean and specifically in the Sardinian Neolithic and Bronze Age. 

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