MULTIELEMENTAL ICP-MS ANALYSIS OF CLASSICAL PERIOD ARCHAEOLOGICAL CREMATED BONE AND SEDIMENT SAMPLES FROM DÊMOSION SÊMA POLYANDRIA OF SALAMINOS 35 SITE IN KERAMEIKOS, ATHENS, GREECE

Abstract

Cremated human bone fragments excavated at the monumental burial site at Salaminos 35 Street in Kerameikos of Athens, Greece, dated to the range of the 8th decade of the 5th century BC were the subject of anthropological study. A number of bone fragments included surface stains of various discolorations. The purpose of this interdisciplinary study combining a forensic anthropology-chemistry substrate was to determine which metal(s), if any, and under what circumstances may have caused the staining on the bone surfaces. To determine this, a Collision/Reaction Cell Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry (CRC ICP-MS) method with microwave accelerated sample digestion was developed and validated for the quantification of metals in bone. The concentrations of Na, Mg, Al, K, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Rb, Sr, Sn, Ba, Pb and U in the stained bone samples were compared to concentrations in unstained bone fragments and sediment samples from the same contextual archaeological association. The sample analyses and comparisons showed that 14 of the 15 stained bone samples analyzed contained significantly higher concentrations of various metals. Of the seven metals readily available during Classical antiquity (Au, Cu, Ag, Pb, Sn, Fe and Hg), four were detected at significantly high concentrations (Cu, Sn, Fe and Pb) in some samples, Ag was tested for but not detected in any sample while Au and Hg were not tested for. The metals that occurred most often at significantly high concentrations were Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Mg and Fe.