0000000000297324
AUTHOR
Luca Bondioli
High-resolution records of past and modern Pb exposure: Laser-ablation ICPMS profiles from tooth enamel
We present compositional and isotopic profiles of past and modern tooth enamel aimed at reconstructing in-vivo Pb exposure at high spatial and time resolution. Focus is on dental enamel because of its sequential mineralization preserving time-series information, and due to its resistance to post-mortem diagenetic alteration. Examples include medieval Pb–Ag miners from SW Germany (Black Forest), the port of ancient Rome (Isola Sacra) for an assessment of the ‘Pb poisoning hypothesis’, and a modern Pb–Zn smelter village in NE NSW. (Sub-)ppb levels of U, LREEs, Y in soil-buried enamel resembling modern enamel are utilized as indicators for the preservation of pristine in-vivo concentrations. T…
Exploring prenatal and neonatal life history through dental histology in infants from the Phoenician necropolis of Motya (7th–6th century BCE)
The biological life history of infants from archaeological contexts can provide a unique insight into past human populations. Dental mineralized tissues contain a permanent record of their growth that can provide access to the prenatal and early infant life, and mortality, of human skeletons. This study focuses on the histomorphometric analysis of deciduous teeth from the ‘Archaic Necropolis’ of Motya (7th–6th century BCE, Sicily–Italy). The histomorphometric analysis is conducted on prenatal and postnatal enamel of eight anterior deciduous teeth from seven individuals from this Phoenician population to estimate their chronological age-at-death, health, and enamel growth parameters. Proteom…