[Comparative analysis of bone mineral composition in human archeological material taken from different regions of...

The actual paper presents the method and results of studies covering the mineral composition of the skulls of humans in the archaeological material stemming from different regions of Poland. The concentration of fluoride, zinc, iron, manganese, lead, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus was determined in 248 skulls. Distribution of individual burial sites providing the study material is presented in Fig. 1. The material was divided into four groups in relation to the place of deposition and in relation to the soil composition. Macro-, microelements determined by the method of atom absorption, phosphate by colourometric method, fluoride by potentiometric method. It has been disclosed that the bony material at the burial site is subjected to processes of fossilisation--replacing the organic matter by mineral one under definite soil conditions. The soil composition is the factor that influences the mineral composition of the bones in case of the following elements: zinc, manganese, lead, magnesium (Tab. 1). No influence was exerted by components contained in the soil on the determined concentrations of fluoride and iron in bones being explored from human skulls originating from archaeological excavation, undergo dynamic transformations in their mineral composition during their deposition in the soil. With the lapse of the time the content of fluoride (Tab. 2), magnesium (Tab. 7), calcium (Tab. 8), phosphate (Tab. 9) increases, while that of zinc (Tab. 3), iron (Tab. 4), manganese (Tab. 5) and lead (Tab. 6) decreases. The end concentration of elements in the archaeological bony material results from the following processes, namely: Cumulation, the example of which is the change in the concentration of fluoride, washing out the components of bone into the soil, to which the compounds of iron and manganese are subjected, compensations of concentrations of the bone soil border. That process took place in the case involving the changes in concentration of zinc, lead, magnesium, calcium and phosphate.