An elemental analysis of archaeological bone from Sicily as a test of predictability of diagenetic change

Cortical human bone samples from three tightly dated components of a single Sicilian site were chemically analyzed employing the highly sensitive technique of inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. Although the skeletons appeared to be excellently preserved, significant diagenesis was detected. Moreover, a majority of the elements tested showed no constant or linear variation over time, implying that diagenetic change tends not to be a predictable function of duration of interment. Variation among major long bones of a single skeleton was quite high, as was variation across the cortex. The latter may reflect chemical inhomogeneity in bone tissue or may be an artifact of postmortem change. The results demonstrate the hazards of unsuspected and unpredictable diagenesis, which must be controlled before reliable dietary inferences can be drawn.