We present a reference database for third molar development based on a contemporary Danish population. A total of 1302 digital panoramic images were evaluated. The images were taken at a known ...chronological age, ranging from 13 to 25years. Third molar development was scored according to the Köhler modification of the 10-stage method of Gleiser and Hunt. We found that third molar development was generally advanced in the maxilla compared to the mandible and in males compared to females; in addition, the mandibular third molar mesial roots were generally more advanced in development than were the distal roots. There was no difference in third molar development between the left and right side of the jaws. Establishing global and robust databases on dental development is crucial for further development of forensic methods to evaluate age.
We describe a procedure for ascertaining the extent of diagenesis in archaeological human skeletons through the distribution of Sr, Ba, Cu, Pb, Fe, and Mn in cross-sections of femoral cortical bone. ...Element mapping is performed through Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Absolute calibrations of element concentrations were obtained using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) on adjacent dissolved bulk bone samples. By comparing a modern individual to five medieval to early modern Danish skeletons, we demonstrate the degree to which concentrations of trace elements are attributable to diagenesis. Invasion from the exterior bone surface into a degraded part of the outer cortical bone is the most frequently occurring diagenetic change. In the archaeological skeletons investigated, diagenetic modification is restricted to, at most, the outer ca. 0.5 mm of bone. In one femur, Haversian channels were filled with diagenetic material, which appears to have entered the bone through a network of cavities largely made up by Haversian and Volkmann’s canals.
Background
The differences in trace element concentrations among 19 different bone elements procured from 10 archaeologically derived human skeletons have been investigated. The 10 individuals are ...dated archaeologically and some by radiocarbon dating to the medieval and post‐medieval period, an interval from ca. AD 1150 to ca. AD 1810. This study is relevant for two reasons. First, most archaeometric studies analyze only one bone sample from each individual; so to what degree are the bones in the human body equal in trace element chemistry? Second, differences in turnover time of the bone elements makes the cortical tissues record the trace element concentrations in equilibrium with the blood stream over a longer time earlier in life than the trabecular. Therefore, any differences in trace element concentrations between the bone elements can yield what can be termed a chemical life history of the individual, revealing changes in diet, provenance, or medication throughout life.
Methods
Thorough decontamination and strict exclusion of non‐viable data has secured a dataset of high quality. The measurements were carried out using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (for Fe, Mn, Al, Ca, Mg, Na, Ba, Sr, Zn, Pb and As) and Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (for Hg) on ca. 20 mg samples.
Results
Twelve major and trace elements have been measured on 19 bone elements from 10 different individuals interred at five cemeteries widely distributed in medieval and renaissance Denmark. The ranges of the concentrations of elements were: Na (2240–5660 µg g−1), Mg (440–2490 µg g−1), Al (9–2030 µg g−1), Ca (22‐36 wt. %), Mn (5–11450 µg g−1), Fe (32–41850 µg g−1), Zn (69–2610 µg g−1), As (0.4–120 µg g−1), Sr (101‐815 µg g−1), Ba (8‐880 µg g−1), Hg (7–78730 ng g−1), and Pb (0.8–426 µg g−1).
Conclusions
It is found that excess As is mainly of diagenetic origin. The results support that Ba and Sr concentrations are effective provenance or dietary indicators. Migrating behavior or changes in diet have been observed in four individuals; non‐migratory or non‐changing diet in six out of the 10 individuals studied. From the two most mobile (most changing diet) individuals in the study, it is deduced that the fastest turnover is seen in the trabecular tissues of the long bones and the hands and the feet, and that these bone elements have higher turnover rates than centrally placed trabecular bone tissue, such as from the ilium or the spine. Comparing Sr and published bone turnover times, it is concluded that the differences seen in Sr concentrations are not caused by diagenesis, but by changes of diet or provenance. Finally, it is concluded that there can be two viable interpretations of the Pb concentrations, which can either be seen as an indicator for social class or a temporal development of increased Pb exposure over the centuries.
Variation in the trace element chemistry of cortical bone microstructure is delineated for interred and non-interred human femora. This was done to investigate the range of element concentrations ...that might occur within single bones, specifically the original laminar bone and later osteons, and its potential for investigating chemical life histories. To do so, femora were chosen from individuals who experienced quite different ways of life over the past two millennia. The distributions of Sr, Ba, Cu, and Pb, mostly in partial (early) and complete (late) osteons, in cross-sections of proximal femora were characterized through Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Absolute calibrations of these data were obtained using solution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry on adjacent dissolved bulk samples. Chemical life histories were approximated by classifying bone microstructure into four categories: laminar bone and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation osteons. This four-part sequence, on average, charts the temporal dimension of an individual’s life. Consistent with recent studies of medieval bones, Sr and Ba are thought to be mainly responsive to diet, presumably related to the consumption of mostly locally produced food, while Cu and Pb do the same for heavy metal exposure often attributable to social status or occupation. No systematic differences in these elements were found between interred and non-interred individuals. The effect of diagenesis on interpretations of life histories based on archaeological bone, therefore, are minimized by plotting element concentrations across cortical bone cross-sections.
For medieval and post-medieval Denmark and northern Germany, trace elements can potentially contribute to our understanding of diet, migration, social status, exposure to urban settings, and disease ...treatment. Copper, of particular interest as a marker of access to everyday metal items, can be used to clarify socioeconomic distinctions between and within communities. Postmortem alteration of bone (diagenesis), however, must be ruled out before the elements can be used to characterize life in the past. Femoral cortical bone samples of ca. 40 mg were thoroughly decontaminated, and the concentrations of Al, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, As, Sr, Ba, and Pb were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The concentrations of these elements were quantified in bone samples from 553 skeletons from 9 rural and urban cemeteries, and 34 soil samples obtained near three burials. Copper, the primary element of interest in this work, is generally absent from the femoral cortical bone of rural people, although it occurs in high concentrations in the skeletons of the inhabitants of towns. The Cu in medieval to post-medieval bones likely originated from everyday objects, notably kitchen utensils. A rural to urban distinction in Cu concentrations, found repeatedly at two sites, likely resulted from differential access to much-desired, although still utilitarian, household items. An uneven distribution of metal objects used in domestic contexts, demonstrated through bone chemistry, was greater between rural and urban communities than it was within urban centres, at least among the socioeconomic positions sampled in this study.
•Third molars in a Danish population generally develop earlier in males than in females.•The same third molars generally develop earlier in the maxilla than in the mandible.•In the same mandibular ...third molars the mesial root generally develops earlier than the distal root.
We present a reference database for third molar development based on a contemporary Danish population. A total of 1302 digital panoramic images were evaluated. The images were taken at a known chronological age, ranging from 13 to 25years. Third molar development was scored according to the Köhler modification of the 10-stage method of Gleiser and Hunt. We found that third molar development was generally advanced in the maxilla compared to the mandible and in males compared to females; in addition, the mandibular third molar mesial roots were generally more advanced in development than were the distal roots. There was no difference in third molar development between the left and right side of the jaws. Establishing global and robust databases on dental development is crucial for further development of forensic methods to evaluate age.
Sensitivity and specificity estimates for 18 skeletal lesions were generated from modern skeletons for future paleoepidemiological analyses of tuberculosis prevalence in archaeological samples. A ...case-control study was conducted using 480 skeletons from 20th century American skeletal collections. One-half of the skeletons were documented tuberculosis cases (Terry Collection). The remaining age and sex-matched skeletons were controls (Bass Collection). The association between 18 candidate skeletal lesions and tuberculosis was established by comparing lesion distributions in case and control groups. Lesion indicators at six locations – visceral surface of ribs, ventral vertebral bodies, lateral part of ilium, acetabular fossa, iliac auricular surface, and ulna olecranon process - occurred significantly more often among cases than in controls, and were associated with one another. The most useful indicator proved to be a bony reaction on ventral thoracic and lumbar vertebral bodies. Its presence means a 53.3% probability of a true tuberculosis diagnosis. Because of the nature of the reference sample – 20th century American cases – sensitivity and specificity estimates will better estimate disease prevalence in archaeological samples from cultural settings where pulmonary tuberculosis predominated. The general approach of this proof-of-concept study is applicable to other diseases that occur commonly and affect bone.
Highlights • All unknown causes of death should be investigated with a forensic autopsy. • We examine the autopsy rates behind ill-defined and unknown causes of death. • We study Finnish and Danish ...mortality statistics.
Mercury and lead were present in European medieval society in very different ways. Mercury was rare and occurred only as point sources such as medicine, the colour pigment cinnabar and in the process ...of gilding. Lead was ubiquitous in the urban societies and present even in the rural ones; the main source was lead glazed kitchenware. We have investigated the distribution of both elements in the bones of rural and urban populations in Northern Germany and Southern Denmark. 283 individuals from six different medieval cemeteries have been studied. The individuals have been examined anthropologically to determine sex and age at death, while samples of the cortical and trabecular bone tissues from the femur have been analysed chemically. Prior to chemical analyses the samples were thoroughly decontaminated. The samples were measured for mercury, lead and calcium. From the data of the rural populations we have established limits for the background exposure levels: 80 and 300ngg−1 for mercury and 5 and 7μgg−1 for lead in cortical and trabecular bone tissue respectively. On average 21% of the population was exposed to Hg above background, but the frequency of high Hg exposure varied from cemetery to cemetery. Lead exposure reached even out into the rural communities where ca. 35% of the population was exposed above background. No correlation was seen between Hg and the proposed social status indicator Pb. Based on measurements of calcium we propose for the first time a criterion for rejecting the analysis of a skeletal sample due to contamination.
Excavating human skeletons is the closest archaeologists can get to the people who lived in the past. Once excavated the bones are often analysed chemically in order to yield as much information as ...possible. Most archaeometric analyses performed on samples of human skeletal remains have been performed on a single sample from a tooth or a long bone. In this paper we investigate how a suite of elements (Mg, Al, Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, As, Sr, Ba, Hg and Pb) are distributed in two medieval skeletons excavated at the laymen cemetery at the Franciscan Friary in Svendborg, Denmark.
The analyses have been performed using CV-AAS for Hg and ICP-MS for the rest of the elements. We find that in general Hg concentrations are highest in the trabecular tissues and in the abdomen region. Our data also show that the elements Al, Fe and Mn concentrate in the trabecular tissue and on the surfaces of the bones. The two individuals can be clearly distinguished by Principal Component Analysis of all the measured trace elements.
Our data support a previously published hypothesis that the elemental ratios Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca and Mg/Ca are indicative of provenance. Aluminium, Fe and Mn can be attributed to various forms of diagenesis, while Hg is not present in sufficiently large amounts in the surrounding soil to allow diagenesis to explain the high Hg values in the trabecular tissue. Instead we propose that Hg must originate from decomposed soft tissue.
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