Pompeii AD 79

A Natural Bone Diagenesis Experiment

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9242522
AutoresAntoine Zazzo (0000-0001-7608-2207), Sébastien Lepetz
Año2017
Volumen59
Número2
Páginas647-658
Fecha de publicación2017-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/rdc.2016.28
OpenAlexW2497255440
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas35

This study aims at comparing the reliability of different types of apatite fractions for which collagen cannot be dated. We focused on the remains of individuals found at the necropolis of Porta Nocera near Pompeii, and for which the date of burial can be assessed independently. The dated human samples range between 1805±49 and 5570±120 14 C yr BP and can display a large (up to 1200 14 C yr) intra-individual age variability. We show that while a marine diet or an old-wood effect could explain the smallest age shifts, they are not able to explain the largest ones, and propose diagenesis as the main cause. The 14 C depletion is likely due to the influence of the 14 C-free CO 2 emissions of the nearby Vesuvius volcano and the Campi Flegrei volcanic system on the age of secondary carbonate incorporated into the bone and enamel crystallites during diagenesis. This study demonstrates that in volcanic contexts, a large deviation from expected age can be measured, even in calcined apatites. Our calculations indicate that while the absolute amount of contamination is lower in calcined bones than in burnt bone and enamel apatite, its impact on the 14 C age of the sample can be much higher due to the low carbon content of calcined bones

Apatite · Carbonate · Diagenesis · Geochemistry · Metallurgy · Mineralogy · Volcano · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Materials Science · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology