ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEYBAĞ-MUĞLA TURKEY BYZANTINE SKELETONS

Authors : Seda Karaöz Arıhan, Ali Akın Akyol, İsmail Özer, Okan Arıhan

Pages : 147-161

View : 137 | Download : 314

Publication Date : 2017-12-05

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Skeletal material forms the basis of paleoanthropological studies and they are also valuable sources of information for the assessment of elemental analysis which may provide clues about nutritional status of ancient populations. Study material comprises skeletons from the necropolis of Beybağ-Muğla Turkey region belonging to Byzantine period and excavated during 2008 period. 52 femoral samples 19 men, 18 women, 15 children and 3 soil samples were studied with the aid of XRF spectroscopy. Macro elements such as calcium, iron and phosphorus as well as trace elements such as arsenic, barium, lead, strontium and zinc were evaluated in order to figure out nutritional status of this Byzantine population with the help of skeletal elemental analysis. In addition it was also aimed to assess different parts of femoral bone within the study in order to determine the effect of sampling area in this population. Results were evaluated with Kruskal-Wallis and Tukey tests. Strontium values for groups were found significantly higher than soil samples. Similarly zinc and phosphorus values for groups were also found significantly higher than soil. However barium, iron and iodine values were found similar to soil samples and affected by diagenetic rather than a biogenetic source. Phosphorus content of bone material was high and Ca/P rate was found lower than observed values in literature which is possibly due to diagenesis. Log Ba/Sr rate was
Keywords : İz Element, Kemik Analizi, Paleopatoloji, Beslenme, Bizans Dönemi