Bone diagenesis study of the burials from the Pedra do Alexandre archaeological site, Carnaúba dos Dantas, RN

Henry Socrates Lavalle Sullasi, André Luiz Campelo Santos, Sérgio Francisco Serafim Monteiro da Silva

Resumo


The Pedra do Alexandre archaeological site was a target of several archaeological campaigns, the bone remains from at least 36 human individuals, and charcoal fragments associated to these burials were among the archaeological findings of the campaigns. The radiocarbon dating provided values between 9400±90 BP and 2620±60 BP. However, attempts to dating the bone remain proved fruitless due to the loss of collagen caused by taphonomic processes. From that finding, this research was initiated to assess the degree of diagenetic alteration of the bone remains from the Pedra do Alexandre archaeological site. FTIR and XRD analyses conducted on 6 random human bone samples from the Site and pH measurements in correlated sediments has enabled us to conclude that all the analyzed bone remains were extensively degraded by microbial activity, although in different degrees of alteration.

Resumo:

O sítio arqueológico Pedra do Alexandre foi alvo de várias campanhas arqueológicas, os restos ósseos de pelo menos 36 indivíduos humanos, e os fragmentos de carvão associados a esses enterros estavam entre os achados arqueológicos das campanhas. A datação por radiocarbono forneceu valores entre 9400±90 AP e 2620±60AP. No entanto, as tentativas de datar os ossos continuam sendo infrutíferas devido à perda de colágeno causada pelos processos afonômicos. A partir dessa descoberta, esta pesquisa foi iniciada para avaliar o grau de alteração diagenética dos remanescentes ósseos do sítio arqueológico Pedra do Alexandre. Análises de FTIR e XRD em 6 amostras aleatórias de osso humano do Sítio e medições de pH em sedimentos relacionados permitiram concluir que todos os remanescentes ósseos analisados foram amplamente degradados pela atividade microbiana, embora em diferentes graus de alteração.


Palavras-chave


Pedra do Alexandre, bone diagenesis, FTIR, XRD.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15210/lepaarq.v15i30.12955

 
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