Author, as appears in the article.: Diaz-Cortes, Andrea; Del Valle, Hector; Lopez-Polin, Lucia; Otero, Jorge; Caceres, Isabel; Valtierra, Noe; Pineda, Antonio; Saladie, Palmira; Vallverdu, Josep
Department: Història i Història de l'Art
URV's Author/s: Cáceres Cuello de Oro, Isabel / López-Polin Dolhaberriague, Lucía / Saladié Ballesté, Palmira / Vallverdú Poch, Josep
Keywords: Site Organic-solvent removal Infrared-spectroscopy Hydroxyapatite Ftir Fossil Diagenesis Delta-o-18 values Cultural heritage Consolidant Conservation diagnosis Collagen Bioapatite Bioapatit Barranc Atr Archaeological bones
Abstract: Initial physicochemical assessment of cultural materials plays a critical role in the research and management of cultural heritage, serving as a foundation for comprehending deterioration mechanisms and developing effective conservation treatments. However, this knowledge is more advanced in several cultural materials such as artwork or historic buildings, than in bone and fossils. This study focuses on bone material conservation, applying diagenetic methods for characterizing and assessing the state of conservation of archaeological bones from Pit 1 at Barranc de la Boella (BB), an open-air archaeological site from the late Early Pleistocene, from a conservation perspective. Microstructural analyses, including mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and histological analysis, alongside microchemical analyses through Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), and FTIR with KBr pellets and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), were conducted to evaluate the decay processes affecting the bones. Results indicated poor bone preservation characterized by high porosity, significant microbial attack, collagen degradation, and the potential recrystallization of bioapatite into fluorapatite. These findings underscore the substantial challenges presented by open-site conditions to preservation efforts and highlight the need for suitable conservation treatments, such as consolidation to reinforce the microstructure. The study emphasizes the importance of characterizing archaeological bones to understand the factors influencing their preservation states and guide conservation works in this material. This work contributes to the knowledge of diagenesis studies to standardize the diagnosis of the state of conservation on archaeological bones.
Thematic Areas: Spectroscopy Saúde coletiva Química Odontología Nutrição Medicina ii Medicina i Materiais Interdisciplinar Geociências Farmacia Engenharias iv Engenharias iii Engenharias ii Engenharias i Enfermagem Ciências biológicas iii Ciências biológicas ii Ciências biológicas i Ciências ambientais Ciências agrárias i Ciência de alimentos Chemistry, analytical Biotecnología Biodiversidade Astronomia / física Analytical chemistry Administração pública e de empresas, ciências contábeis e turismo
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Author's mail: josep.vallverdup@urv.cat lucia.lopezpolin@urv.cat palmira.saladie@urv.cat isabel.caceres@urv.cat
Author identifier: 0000-0002-3177-3263 0000-0002-5810-4115 0000-0002-1730-8461 0000-0001-8487-2591
Record's date: 2025-02-01
Paper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Paper original source: Microchemical Journal. 206 111353-
APA: Diaz-Cortes, Andrea; Del Valle, Hector; Lopez-Polin, Lucia; Otero, Jorge; Caceres, Isabel; Valtierra, Noe; Pineda, Antonio; Saladie, Palmira; Vallverd (2024). Diagnosis of archaeological bones: Analyzing the state of conservation of lower Pleistocene bones through diagenesis methods. Microchemical Journal, 206(), 111353-. DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2024.111353
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2024
Publication Type: Journal Publications