Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic?
Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic?
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.jas.2019.05.005
复制
发表时间：
2019-08-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Vijande Vila, Eduardo
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Emslie, Steven D.;Alderman, Audrey;Vijande Vila, Eduardo
我们调查了来自伊比利亚半岛考古遗址的人骨中的汞（Hg），在那里，从公元前4至2千年（新石器时代晚期，铜器时代和青铜器时代），朱砂（HgS）作为一种颜料，提供或防腐剂在埋葬实践中的文化用途已被记录。先前的分析表明，在该地区的许多新石器时代和铜器时代遗址中，人类骨骼中的总汞（THg）含量很高，但问题仍然存在，如果这种汞通过土壤中的成岩过程进入骨骼，特别是在朱砂粉末和油漆被发现与墓葬有关的地方，或者如果它通过生物途径进入骨骼，从生活中使用朱砂暴露于汞。我们分析了来自伊比利亚四个新石器时代至青铜时代遗址的30个墓葬的肱骨、股骨和胫骨，发现这些骨骼中的THg值从低到高，当THg大于1 ppm时，肱骨显示出比其他骨骼元素明显更多的THg浓度。不同地点和年龄的骨骼材料中汞沉积的这种模式强烈表明汞的生物来源。此外，使用SEM EDS分析，在THg值从高到低的骨骼中没有检测到Hg，进一步降低了Hg或朱砂颗粒从土壤侵入骨骼的成岩作用。很可能是使用重型工具和生活中的其他活动产生的更大的应力和骨重塑率导致肱骨中的THg高于其他骨骼元素，但需要更多的研究来验证这一点。
We investigated mercury (Hg) in human bone from archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula where the cultural use of cinnabar (HgS) as a pigment, offering or preservative in burial practices has been documented from the 4th to 2nd millennia cal B.C. (Late Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age). Previous analyses have shown high levels of total mercury (THg) in human bone at numerous Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in this region, but the question remains if this mercury entered the bones via diagenetic processes in the soil, especially where cinnabar powder and paint was found associated with the burials, or if it entered the bone via biogenic pathways from exposure to mercury from using cinnabar in life. We analyzed the humerus, femur, and tibia from a total of 30 individual burials from four Neolithic to Bronze Age sites in Iberia and found low to high values of THg in these bones, with the humerus showing significantly more THg concentrations than other skeletal elements when the THg was greater than 1 ppm. This pattern of Hg deposition in skeletal material from different sites and ages strongly suggests a biogenic origin for the mercury. In addition, absence of detectable Hg in bones with high to low values of THg using SEM EDS analysis further discounts diagenetic intrusion of Hg or cinnabar particles into the bone from the soil. It is likely that greater stress and bone remodeling rates from use of heavy tools and other activities in life are responsible for higher THg in the humerus than other skeletal elements, but additional research is needed to verify this.