Analysis of (pre)historic findings by LA-ICP-DRC-MS

Interdisciplinary approaches increasingly try to help reading the unwritten books of history by revealing information out of archaeological and anthropological findings. Modern anthropology and archaeology more and more use chemical methods to understand or underline theories of historical and biological processes like spreading of culture, migration and territoriality of ancient cultures to increase our knowledge of population development in ancient times and to add another stone to the puzzle of the omnipresent question: Where do we come from, where do we go? The main idea of this project is to optimize and implement an innovative analytical tool for non invasive chemical analysis of precious (pre)historical findings (human bones, teeth, grave goods). We will analyse isotopic and elemental composition of the samples on a spotsize of about 50 m. Statistical analysis of unique sample material (bones, teeth, metal grave findings) of selected and representative sites allow us to reveal unsolved questions in modern anthropology and archaeology (mobility, residential changes, territoriality, investigation of migration processes, social and alimentary differentiation and human social processes of past populations). First steps of the project are the optimization of the tool and the assessment of the variability of Sr isotopic composition and elemental pattern in bones and teeth. After the successful setup, we will perform statistical measurements of samples from 5 selected sites from 5000 BC to 1000 AC (Neolithic to Medieval Ages) The analysis of elemental patterns in metal grave findings is used as fingerprint for authentication of the mentioned goods as well as the determination of their origin. Again, the almost destruction free analysis is a prerequisite for the analysis of such precious samples. We will analyse an Avar gold treasure and Bronze grave goods for their elemental composition. The combination of the information revealed both from skeletal remains and from grave findings will increase the information on prehistoric life strategies significantly. The interdisciplinary approach as collaboration between the University of Agricultural Sciences and the Museum of Natural History enables excellent science in this field.

Interdisciplinary approaches increasingly try to help reading the unwritten books of history by revealing information out of archaeological and anthropological findings. Modern anthropology and archaeology more and more use chemical methods to understand or underline theories of historical and biological processes like spreading of culture, migration and territoriality of ancient cultures to increase our knowledge of population development in ancient times and to add another stone to the puzzle of the omnipresent question: Where do we come from, where do we go? One of the historical records is written via the chemical composition by elemental and isotopic fingerprints: This information is in most cases unique and is transferred from the surrounding environment via the food chain finally to animal as well as human bones and tissues. This information can now be used to investigate human migration processes or social pattern within an historic settlement. Moreover, the composition of archaeological findings reflects directly the composition of the raw material and can therefore be used to trace the origin or authenticity of archaeological goods. The main result of this project was to install and validate a new method in order to make this information accessible: a laser beam with a diameter of less than 100m is used in combination with a very sensitive instrument to monitor the chemical composition. This method ensures that minimal damage is done to the valuable specimen by assessing as much information as possible. Within our work, we encountered the difficulty to monitor the influence of post-mortem processes when taking into account that the samples are stored for thousands of years in ambient soil. We could successfully assess this information on historical bone material by applying e.g. a sequential dissolution technique. Moreover, the study of different sites enabled the assessment of diagenetic processes. The method helped us to study social pattern of individuals excavated in a settlement in Aparn/Schletz as well as to identify individuals, which did not origin from the settlement but were marauders. The method could also be extended to analyse single human hair samples for the time resolved take-up of trace elements. We could in addition establish the analytical method to characterize archaeological goods. As an example, we identified Celtic bronze finding by their chemical composition with respect to their origin. The project enabled the implementation of a versatile tool to assess the hidden information in historical samples. Further applications and investigations are still in process and soon, more examples will be available to the public.