Environmental Impact on Fossil Record for Palaecological Reconstruction Studies

Abstract

Paleoecological studies have an important role in understanding past environmental, dietary and/or societal changes however require the authentic signature of fossil materials. Therefore, a significant part of these studies concerns the isolation of the material authentic matrix. Bone hydroxyapatite from different animal species from the archaeological site of Dispilio in Kastoria Lake basin in northern Greece has been subjected to mineral analysis in order to detect if there are suitable for palaoecological studies. Calcium, phosphorus, oxygen and hydrogen are the main components of bones resulting rigidity, hardness and compressive strength of their structure. However different bone structure resulting different calcium- phosphate phases and different compositions, including Ca/P ratios. These disparities may be attributable to different physiological characteristic, conditions under which the bones were formed or burial environment. Trace element analysis (Ca/P, Sr/P, Fe/Mn) concluded that treated fossil bones retained their biochemical signal without any strong influence by soil remains however without suggesting that no chemical alteration have been occurred.