title: Diagenesis, not biogenesis: Two late Roman skeletal examples.
abstract: Bone element analysis of two Late Roman populations from coastal south-eastern Spain suggests significant diagenesis. Trace element levels, in particular elevated Sr, Pb, Al, Mn, and the Ca/P ratio indicate post-mortem changes in the composition of the bones, preventing use of the data for dietary reconstructions, as well as for the investigation of the different individuals' health conditions, or of links between diet, health and skeletal indicators of growth stress. Such diagenetic biases are more widespread than usually recognized; paleodietary and paleoenvironmental inferences derived from the chemistry of archaeological bones need to be critically assessed.
authors.affiliation: Area of Physical Anthropology, Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Campus Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain. jzapata@um.es
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zapata
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez-Sirvent
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Martínez-Sánchez
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tovar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D001106:Archaeology; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry*; D004032:Diet; D006801:Humans; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*; D008906:Mining; D012384:Rome; D012989:Soil Pollutants
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D012989:Soil Pollutants