Skeletal remains

Biogenic Ma.teria.ls, Deep ocean calcareous or siUceous oo2es are sediments containing >30% of biogenic material. Foraminifera, the skeletal remains of calcareous plankton, are found extensively in deep equatorial waters above the calcium carbonate compensation depth of 4000 to 5000 m. 

Similar deposits of radiolaria or diatoms composed of siUceous skeletal remains are widespread in more temperate areas in deep water below 5000 m. The deposits maybe very pure. The diatoms recovered from deposits on land are used as fillers or filter materials or as a source of high quaUty carbonate or sihca (see Diatomite). 

Diatomaceous Earth (also called Diatomite) consisting of silicaceous skeletal remains of tiny aquatic unicellular plants. 

Diatomaceous earth A fine, siliceous (made of silica) "earth" composed mainly of the skeletal remains of diatoms (single cell microscopic algae with rigid internal structure consisting mainly of silica). Tests prove that DE leaches unacceptable amounts of silicate into the water for fish health. If used as a filter substance, a silicone removing resin should be employed afterwards. 

Saunders, S.R., DeVito, C, Herring, D.A., Southern, R. and Hoppa, R.D. 1993 Accuracy tests of tooth formation age estimations for human skeletal remains. American Journal of Physical... 

Saunders, S.R., Herring, D.A., Sawchuk, LA. and Boyce, G. 1995 The Nineteenth-century Cemetery at St. Thomas Anglican Church, Belleville Skeletal Remains, Parish Records and Censuses. In Grave Refleetions Portraying the Past through Cemetery Studies. Toronto, Canadian Scholars Press 93-118. 

Cuello was excavated by Hammond and co-workers between 1975 and 1993. It is the earliest known Preclassic Maya site, with a Preclassic occupation from ca. 1200 BC to AD 300 as well as later Classic period (AD 300-900) remains the earliest pottery-using phase (Swasey, 1200-900 BC) has not yet been found at other Preclassic sites, but the Bladen (900-600 BC) and subsequent phases match occupations elsewhere in date and material culture. The Cuello excavations have been extensively described in the report edited by Hammond (1991). Of particular relevance here are the chapters on the ecology and subsistence economy (Ch. 4) by Miksicek and by Wing and Scudder, and on the human burials (Ch. 7), by Frank and Julie Saul. More recent publications have focused on the subsistence economy (Crane and Carr 1994) and on the human skeletal remains (Saul and Saul 1997). 

Table 2.1. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values of animal and human skeletal remains from the Predassic archaeological deposits at Cuello. Belize.

Bell, L.S. and Lee-Thorp, J.A. in press Advances in the study of human skeletal remains a joint perspective. In Cox, ed., Grave Concerns, Council for British Archaeology. 

Baker, B.J. 1991 Collagen preservation and composition in ancient Nubian skeletal remains. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 12 46 7. 

Collagen composition in human skeletal remains from the NAX cemetery (A.D. 350-550)... 

Cook, M.A. 1992 Age-at-death estimation in human skeletal remains using histomorphometry. M.Sc. thesis, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. 

Holland MM, Fisher D, Mitchell LG, Rodriquez WC, Canik JJ, Merril CR and Weedn VW (1993) Mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis of human skeletal remains identification of remains from the Vietnam War. J Forensic Sci 38 542-553. 

Taylor, G. C., M. Crossey, J. Saldanha, and T. Waldron (1996), DNA from Mycobacterium tuberculosis identified in medieval human skeletal remains using polymerase chain reaction, /. Archaeol. Sci. 23, 789-798. 

Hrdlicka, A., Skeletal Remains Suggesting or Attributed to Early Man in North America, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Bulletin 33. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1907. 

Paleozoic limestone (Webb et al. 2004). These kimberlites all have similar groundmass mineralogies consisting mainly of carbonate, spinel, and serpentine with lesser monticellite, mica, apatite, and perovskite (Kong et al. 1999) and they are all of volcaniclastic facies near ground surface. Varying thicknesses of clay and fine marine sediments of the Tyrell Sea ( 4000 - 12000 years BP) and 1 to 4 m of peat overlie kimberlites (Fraser et al. 2005). Bioherms composed of coral and skeletal remains of other marine organisms sometimes outcrop. 

Smith, P.R. and Wilson, M.T. (1990). Detection of haemoglobin in human skeletal remains by ELISA. Journal of Archaeological Science 17 255-268. 

Bischoff, J.L. and Rosenbauer, R.J. (1981). Uranium series dating of human skeletal remains from the Del Mar and Sunnyvale sites, California. Science 213 1003-1005. 

Grape, G., Price, T.D., Schroter, P., Sollner, F., Johnson, C.M. and Beard, B.L. (1997). Mobility of Bell Beaker people revealed by strontium isotope ratios of tooth and bone a study of southern Bavarian skeletal remains. Applied Geochemistry 12 517-525. 

The silica carrier of a sulphuric acid catalyst, which has a relatively low surface area, serves as an inert support for the melt. It must be chemically resistant to the very corrosive pyrosulphate melt and the pore structure of the carrier should be designed for optimum melt distribution and minimum pore diffusion restriction. Diatomaceous earth or synthetic silica may be used as the silica raw material for carrier production. The diatomaceous earth, which is also referred to as diatomite or kieselguhr, is a siliceous, sedimentary rock consisting principally of the fossilised skeletal remains of the diatom, which is a unicellular aquatic plant related to the algae. The supports made from diatomaceous earth, which may be pretreated by calcination or flux-calcination, exhibit bimodal pore size distributions due to the microstructure of the skeletons, cf. Fig. 5. 

A method for the decontamination of non-skeletal remains (e.g. coprolites and quids) has not been developed. While many researchers use ultraviolet (UV) irradiation to destroy contamination (see studies reviewed in 31, 33), no study has demonstrated that this technique is actually effective in removing contamination on archaeological specimens (33). One way to avoid potential contamination when extracting DNA from coprolites and quids is to take samples from the interior portions of the specimens. 

The large majority of skeletal remains from prehistoric Sardinia come from collective burials where skeletal elements were not articulated nor associated in any way deemed significant by the excavators. It was therefore necessary to select one skeletal element in order to insure that the same individuals were not being sampled more than once. Crania were found to be the best choice, since they hold the highest potential to identify the individual s sex, age and pathologies. While we know of different turnover rates in different skeletal elements and within the same element, the specific times have not been documented. Growth speed is believed to affect intra-bone variability mostly in... 

Figure 2. Left Chronological table of Sardinian prehistory from the Middle Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, based on calibrated radiocarbon dates. Right Map of Sardinia with the location of the four sites where the skeletal remains tested were recovered.

Alaska, ancient coastal migration detection by mtDNA from skeletal remains, 80... 

Apatite values, skeletal remains, five Sardinian sites, 124,126/... 

Collagen values for skeletal remains from Sardinian sites, 123-125/ Colorado, Mesa Verde pottery sherds, Black-on-white paints, characterization, 287-292 Colorant testing protocol for archaeological textiles, 29-39 Colorants in eastern North American archaeological textiles, 15-43... 

No studies have been located that specifically follow the distribution of radium in humans or animals following oral exposure. Distribution to the skeleton is assumed due to the findings of osteosarcomas in the dial painter studies as well as the presence of radium in their exhumed skeletal remains. The affinity for bone is assumed to be related to its similarity to calcium (BIER IV 1988). 

---