Diet and disease in Tomar, Portugal: comparing stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios between skeletons with and without signs of infectious disease

Objectives: This study explored the correspondence between stable isotope ratios and indicators of non-specific (periostitis and/or osteomyelitis) and specific (venereal syphilis) disease in a sample of human skeletons from a Portuguese archaeological collection. Additionally, this study examined stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios between individuals at different disease stages. Materials and Methods: δ13C and δ15N data from previously analysed skeletons without signs of infectious disease or physiological stress (n=32) were compared to new data from skeletons with active (n=6), healed (n=7) or a combination of both lesions (n=10). Skeletons with lesions (n=23) were also grouped as having only healed tibial periostitis (n=7), generalised non-specific (n=5) and generalised specific infections (n=2). The skeletons with lesions that did not fit into these groups (n=9) were not used in this analysis. Results: The δ15N from skeletons with non-specific generalised infections in several bones differed significantly when compared to skeletons that had either only healed tibial periostitis or were without lesions. Skeletons with venereal syphilis had similar mean δ13C and δ15N to either skeletons without signs of disease or those with only healed tibial periostitis. Discussion: These results suggest different diets may be linked into an individual’s susceptibility to these pathogens. Diet influences resistance to infectious disease, while infections decrease nutrient availability, increase malabsorption and resting energy expenditure. Potentially therefore, combining isotopic evidence of diet with pathology may contribute to a new understanding of health and lifestyle in the past

The “Ferradeira” individual burial of Herdade do Álamo (Beja): facets of social change in the late 3rd millennium BC in South Portugal

The individual burial of the Herdade do Alamo, located in Beja municipality, South Portugal, is presented along with its bioanthropological study, radiocarbon dating and isotopic approaches on diet and mobility. The results show a male, with a terrestrial diet and youth mobility, dating from the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BC. The archaeometallurgical study of the metal votive assemblage (one tongue dagger and three Palmela points) indicates a copper metallurgy with high values of Arsenic (As), typical of this period of transition. The burial is contextualized in a process of individuation of the funerary practices and in the "Ferradeira Horizon", considered as a facet of the diversified funerary practices and of the complex social changes of the late 3rd millennium BC in the South of Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Did military orders influence the general population diet? Stable isotopes analysis from Medieval Tomar, Portugal

This study integrates bone collagen stable isotope data (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) from 33 human adult tibiae (15 females; 18 males) and 13 faunal remains from Tomar, while it was under the Military Orders domain (eleventh–seventeenth centuries). Historical literature indicates that the amount of meat consumption amongst Templars was lower than in individuals with similar social status. In Medieval times, these Military Orders had total control of towns and angling and fishing rights, but their influence on the general population diet remains unknown. While no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between sexes, social status, or for bone collagen δ13C and δ34Sbetween age groups, δ15N did differ significantly with age, which may be related to tooth loss in old individuals. Additionally, the human samples have higher stable isotope differences, in comparison with faunal samples, than would be expected within the food web, particularly for δ13C. This human bone collagen δ13C enrichment may reflect a diet rich in aquatic protein intake, which is also supported by δ34S archived in human and faunal samples, and the presence of oysters and cockles shells at the excavation. The religious diet restrictions might have led to a higher intake of aquatic protein when meat consumption was not allowed

Geochemical identity of pre-Dogon and Dogon populations at Bandiagara (Mali, 11th–20th cent. AD)

Bone geochemistry of pre-Dogon (11th–16th cent. AD) and Dogon (17th–20th cent. AD) populations buried in two caves of the Bandiagara Cliff (Mali) was examined for the purpose of exploring their diet and mobility. While the Dogon were the subject of extensive ethnographic studies, the lifestyle of the pre-Dogon, so-called “Tellem” is not known. We therefore compared the geochemical composition of Dogon bones with the results obtained from modern dietary surveys in Mali, to establish the parameters of a dietary model that was further applied to the pre-Dogon in order to expand our knowledge concerning their way of life. The exceptional preservation of the bones of both populations was confirmed not only at the macroscopic scale, but also at the mineralogical, histological and geochemical levels, which resemble those of fresh bones, and therefore offered ideal conditions for testing this approach. 15The application of the Bayesian mixing model FRUITS, based on bone δ13C (apatite and collagen) and bone δ N values, suggested a dietary continuity through time, from the 11th century to today. Bone barium (Ba) content revealed very restricted mobility within the Cliff while bone δ18O values indicated that Pre-Dogon and Dogon most likely occupied the Bandiagara Plateau and the Cliff, respectively

The “Ferradeira” individual burial of Herdade do Álamo (Beja): facets of social change in the late 3rd millennium BC in South Portugal

Se presenta el entierro individual de la Herdade do Álamo, ubicada en el municipio de Beja, Sur de Portugal, junto con su estudio bioantropológico, datación por radiocarbono y enfoques isotópicos sobre dieta y movilidad. Los resultados muestran un varón, con dieta terrestre y movilidad juvenil, que data del último cuarto del 3º milenio antes de Cristo. El estudio arqueometalúrgico del conjunto votivo metálico (un puñal de lengüeta y tres puntas de Palmela) indica una metalurgia del cobre con altos valores de Arsénico (As), propios de este período de transición. El entierro se contextualiza en un proceso de individuación de las prácticas funerarias y en el “Horizonte Ferradeira”, considerado como una faceta de las prácticas funerarias diversificadas y de los complejos cambios sociales de finales del III milenio antes de Cristo en el sur de Portugal

Non-halide sediments from the Loule diapir salt mine: characterization and environmental significance

The sedimentary record of the Mesozoic Algarve Basin (south Portugal) spans from the Triassic to the Lower Cretaceous. Following the initial phase of Pangaea breakup and the related continental sedimentation during the Triassic, the sedimentation evolved through transitional (Triassic-Jurassic transition) to marine (Jurassic) environments. During the Hettangian a thick sequence of evaporites deposited in the basin. Most of the occurrences of these deposits have undetermined volumes, due to the post depositional diapiric movements. At the central Algarve, under the town of Loulé, a salt wall of up to > 1 km across, > 3 km in length and > 2 km in height has been exploited for the chemical industry (Loulé Diapir - LD). Most of the sediments that constitute LD are halides (> 99% halite), the exception being a package of non-halide sediments, constituted by carbonates (dolomite and magnesite) and sulphates (anhydrite) in various proportions with a maximum thickness of 3 meters. This package has a distinctive mesoscopic aspect of three layers of approximately the same thickness, different colours and primary sedimentary structures: black-brow-grey, from bottom to top. The sediments of this package were studied with a multidisciplinary approach aiming their mineralogical and chemical characterization, the determination of the organic matter content and origin, as well as the characterization and understanding of the chemical processes that occurred during the emplacement and compression of the LD: (i) X-ray diffraction for the determination of the mineral phases present and semi-quantification using the RIR-Reference Intensity Ratio method; (ii) micro analysis of the mineralogical samples by Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled to Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy; (iii) REE content determination by ICP-MS; (iv) determination of the carbon content by CHN Elemental analysis; (v) determination of the organic matter content by elemental analysis and their composition by pyrolysis-GC-MS; (vi) determination of the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic ratios of the organic matter; (vii) anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility to study it emplacement mode. The LD is deformed by a set of shear-zones and thrusts formed during the Cenozoic Alpine compression that are underlined by the presence of a fine grained, non-halide material, whose nature and characterization was also done, using the same analytical methods. The preliminary mineralogical and geochemical results show a clear pattern in the evolution of the environmental conditions of the sedimentation with influence on the availability of the dissolved cations. The three of the sediment package showed distinct organic carbon content reaching 4.42% in the black horizon, five times the values found in the adjacent layers. By using the rare earth elements as geochemical tracers of sediment provenance, shale normalised profiles suggest that sediment particles from the three layers have the same origin. However, the non-halide sediments retained in the shear zones showed a different profile with an increase of MREE and a positive Eu anomaly. This work was done in the scope of the MEDSALT - Uncovering the Mediterranean salt giant, COST action CA15103

Bone diagenesis in arid environments; An intra-skeletal approach

International audienceBone trace element content and isotopic composition are closely related to human nutrition. The investigation ofarchaeological bone geochemistry can help us to better understand the relationship between past populationsand their environment alongside cultural practices as inferred from dietary reconstruction. However, dietary in-formation may be altered post-mortem by diagenetic processes in soil. In this study, bone mineralogy (Ca/P, sec-ondary minerals, organic matter content and bone apatite crystallinity), histology, element content (Mg, Na, F, Sr,Ba, Mn, Fe, La, Ce and U) and stable isotope composition (δ13Candδ18O carbonate) were investigated at the intra-individual scale in order to understand the effects of diagenesis on skeletons buried in different saharo-sahelianenvironments. Between 10 to 18 bone samples were taken from 4 Neolithic skeletons excavated in theMauritanian Dhar Oualata and Néma and in the Daounas, Mali. Additionally, the enamel of two third molarteeth was also analysed from each skeleton for comparison with bone.The results show that the four skeletons, buried in the same desert climate area, all exhibited different degrees ofdiageneticmodification,relatedto localtaphonomic conditions. Highly drainedand periodically flooded environments generated substantial bone bacterial damage, low to moderate apatite crystallinity and secondary minerals in bone pores. Bone trace element content and isotopic composition were more diagenetically affectedthan in bones from skeletons buried in a drier environment, which display little bioerosion, high apatite crystallinity and the absence or late precipitation of secondary minerals in their bone pores.Intra-skeletal variability of the geochemical composition, and the comparison of geochemical data from bonesand teeth, enables the approximation of ante-mortem bone trace element and stable isotope compositionsusing the best preserved bones from each skeleto

Investigação arqueobotânica dos sedimentos arqueológicos de Paço dos Lobos da Gama: um arrabalde islâmico da cidade de Évora (séculos XI-XII)

O Paço dos Lobos da Gama é uma residência senhorial do século XVII, construída pela família Lobo da Gama. Situa-se sensivelmente a meio da Rua Serpa Pinto, em Évora. Entre 2008 e 2009 foi alvo de escavações arqueológicas de emergência que se concentraram principalmente no logradouro, atrás do imóvel. Em particular o sector 6 forneceu um conjunto importante de vestígios arqueológicos dos séculos I-II d.C. até ao final da Época Moderna, com especial destaque para o período islâmico. Os macrorestos vegetais, objeto deste estudo provêm exclusivamente de contextos islâmicos que, excetuando uma unidade estratigráfica, pertencem a estruturas negativas. Entre todas, destaca-se uma fossa séptica de onde provêm os sedimentos analisados que se revelaram particularmente ricos em sementes e frutos mineralizados, na maior parte pertencentes a arvores/arbustos de fruto. O estudo destina-se sobretudo à caracterização do uso e consumo de vegetais por parte desta comunidade entre o final do século XI e o princípio do século XII. São também relevantes os aspetos relacionados com a exploração e uso da madeira. As análises estão ainda a decorrer, pelo que serão aqui apresentados somente os resultados preliminares

Testing LA-ICP-MS analysis of archaeological bones with different diagenetic histories for paleodiet prospect

LA-ICP-MS is a powerful technique requiring minimal sample preparation and providing high spatial resolution which may offer the possibility of analysing trace elements in targeted pristine areas of archaeological bone sections. This would provide invaluable information about an individual's life if combined with the geochemical composition of the teeth from the same individual. However, there is no consensus regarding the calibration to be used for LA-ICP-MS analysis of bone, which is a highly complex organo-mineral tissue. In this study, we tested different calibration approaches (NIST and USGS glass series, synthetic phosphate glass and synthetic phosphate pellet from USGS) on a modern bone. The best method was applied to three Precolumbian skeletons (Lerma Valley, Mexico). These individuals show different degrees of preservation (crystallinity, calcite, F and organic matter content) which have been previously explored at the intra-skeletal level. A bone sample with exceptional preservation from the Dogon Country (Mali) was analysed for comparison. Based on BSE SEM images and element distribution of the bone sections obtained via LA-ICP-MS mapping, quantification of Ca, P, Li, Zn, V, U, Na, Mg, Sr and Ba was performed using LA-ICP-MS spot analysis on areas displaying varying concentration profiles and histological preservation. Although avoiding sampling at the external margin of the bone sections may minimize diagenetic Li, Zn, V, U, Sr and Ba, it was not possible to discriminate biological from diagenetic Sr adsorbed onto the bone crystallites of the best preserved Precolumbian skeleton, whose low crystallinity favored adsorption efficiency. In contrast, the well preserved Dogon sample, as well as the most altered Precolumbian skeletons provided Sr and Ba content roughly similar to concentrations obtained using bulk analysis. LA-ICP-MS can therefore not substitute solution analysis for paleodiet prospect, especially for bones in relatively early state of diagenetic transformations