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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Lead in the Bones of Cows from a Medieval Pb-Ag Metallurgical Settlement: Bone Mineralization by Metalliferous Minerals

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description

Pb contents (13-53 mg kg−1) and pathological changes in almost complete cow skeletonsdiscovered in graves adjacent to Pb and Ag smelting furnaces active in the Silesian-Cracovian region, in the mid-12th century are reported in the article. In addition to Pb,elements such as Zn, Cd, Fe, Mn, Cd, and Ba characteristic of Zn-Pb-Ag ores in the regionwere identified. Bone fragments and the soil in which they had lain for almost 800 yearswere examined by SEM, EDS. XRD was used to identify minerals present in soils. Theenrichment of the bones with Zn, Pb, Fe, Mn, and Cd is associated with the remobilisationof elements from soil contaminated with primary and synthetic phase-rich metals. In bioticmaterial (e.g. bones) taken from soils heavily contaminated by mining or metallurgicalprocesses, it is not possible to determine whether a given metal was even partlyincorporated into the bone structure during life using the above methods. However, theimportance of comprehensive geochemical and submicroscopic data for any inferencebased on the results of chemical tests on biological material is clearly indicated.