Spectrographic analysis of trace elements in archaeological skeletal material from Florida

A preliminary report

Bibliographic Data

ID8312005
AuthorsM Iscan (0000-0003-2261-8218, Florida Atlantic University, corresponding author), Mehmet Yaşar Işcan, Morton H Kessel (Florida Atlantic University), Susanna Marits (Florida Atlantic University)
Year1989
Volume79
Issue4
Pages483-488
Publication date1989-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330790405
PMID2672831
OpenAlexW2087722991
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited5

Technological advances have resulted in the development of an additional approach to determining the dietary practices of prehistoric populations. Bones are known to retain certain trace elements, the analysis of which should yield valuable clues to subsistence. Since there has never been a study of this nature attempted on Indian remains in Florida, a qualitative trace element analysis, using an optical emission spectrograph, was made of bone samples from indigenous populations representing both inland and coastal environments in this region. Results of this study showed that magnesium was present in all samples, copper was present in nearly half the samples, and manganese and zinc were not detected. Thus, although the diets of these groups may have varied, the trace element content did not reflect significant differences as have been reported for other types of analyses on Indian populations from diverse geographic regions

Archaeology · Geography · Linguistics · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology · History · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology