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Mercury in archaeological human bone: biogenic or diagenetic?

Publication . Emslie, Steven D.; Alderman, Audrey; McKenzie, Ashley; Brasso, Rebecka; Taylor, Alison R.; Molina Moreno, María; Cambra-Moo, Oscar; González Martín, Armando; Silva, Ana Maria; Valera, António; García Sanjuán, Leonardo; Vijande Vila, Eduardo

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.

2019-08Journal article

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6. Contextos funerários e manipulação de restos humanos

Publication . Valera, António Carlos; Silva, Ana Maria; Leandro, Inês; Godinho, Ricardo Miguel; Evangelista, Lucy Shaw

Os contextos funerários até ao momento conhecidos nos Perdigões relativos à fase neolítica resumem-se ainda a apenas duas fossas (Fossas 7 e 11), já objecto de várias publicações (Valera 2008; Godinho 2008; Valera, Godinho 2009; Valera et al. 2014, Silva et al. 2015), a que se somam alguns restos humanos desarticulados depositados no interior de fossos (5, 8 e 13c) e fossas (62), e que não se enquadram dentro do mesmo registo de práticas funerárias. Todos os contextos se localizam no interior de recintos (Figura 6.1).

2018Book part

Open access

Addressing human mobility in Iberian Neolithic and Chalcolithic ditched enclosures: The case of Perdigões (South Portugal)

Publication . Valera, António Carlos; Žalaitė, I.; Maurer, Anne France; Grimes, V.; Silva, Ana Maria; Ribeiro, S.; Santos, J. F.; Dias, Cristina Barrocas

To access the role of mobility in the social trajectory of Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies in the South of Portugal (Southwest Iberia) a project was design to address the human, animal and object/raw material flow present at Perdigões enclosure. Perdigões, located in the inner Alentejo region, has a long chronology from Late Middle Neolithic to Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age (middle 4th and 3rd millennium BC). It is a large complex of ditched enclosures (with at least 16 ditches), presenting several funerary contexts, an abundance of faunal remains and significant concentrations of exogenous materials in tombs. In this study human and animal mobility are addressed through 87Sr/86Sr isotopic analysis. 69 individuals dating from Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic, with provenance from 9 different archaeological contexts inside the enclosures (tombs, ditches and pits) were analysed. Human data are presented along with previously published strontium isotope ratios from fauna (n = 28; Canis familiaris, Bos taurus, Sus sp., Ovis/Capra, Cervus elaphus, Equus sp.) from the same chronological range and several contextual provenances (Zalaite et al., 2018). Plant samples (n = 20) that cover local and peripheral lithologies were used for establishing local bioavailable strontium isotope ranges. To compare with the Perdigões results, 9 human samples from 3 megalithic monuments (Cebolinhos 1, Comenda 1 and Vidigueiras 2) of the local settlement network were also analysed. The results show a significant scaled mobility of humans and animals in Perdigões, a contextual variation between the funerary contexts within the site and a significant contrast with the individuals from local megalithic monuments. These results, combined with other archaeological data at the site, agree with the interpretation of the site as a large aggregation centre integrated in large scale interaction networks.

2020Journal article

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Diet and mobility of fauna from Late Neolithic–Chalcolithic site of Perdigões, Portugal

Publication . Žalaitė, I.; Maurer, Anne-France; Grimes, V.; Silva, Ana Maria; Ribeiro, S.; Santos, J.F.; Barrocas Dias, Cristina; Valera, António Carlos

Perdigões is located in the Alentejo region of south-eastern Portugal, with occupational phases dating from the Late Middle Neolithic to Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age (middle 4th and 3rd millennium BCE) periods. It is a complex site that can be considered as a centre of social aggregation and a part of a larger settlement network. In this study, the nature of animal subsistence patterns as well as husbandry management practices and mobility are examined using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic values from bone collagen of 35 archaeological faunal samples (Canis familiaris, Bos taurus, Bos primigenius, Sus sp., Ovis/Capra, Cervus elaphus, O. cuniculus, Equus sp.) and strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis of 23 enamel samples. To provide necessary biological 87Sr/86Sr baseline data, the strontium isotopic composition of 14 modern plant samples were measured. The stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data shows that animals subsisted on a selection of C3 terrestrial resources, with subtle differences in animal husbandry practices in domesticated animals, while strontium isotope analysis shows that<5% of analysed fauna is consistent with the local bioavailable strontium isotopic range. Other animals can be divided into two clusters – those having strontium isotope values either lower or higher than the bioavailable range, showing that most of the fauna browsed and grazed within 10 km of the site's surrounding landscape, which is not such an unusual practice during prehistoric times.

2018Journal article

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