First evidence of fractionation on stable organic carbon isotopes in ancient Egyptian linen textile fibers during degradation

Abstract

The study of the fractionation of the stable carbon isotopes 13C and 12C through the δ13C value finds applications in various fields of science, from quality control in agribusiness to the study of the geographical origin of materials. At the plant level, this information is useful to prove which photosynthetic cycle a particular plant belongs to: C3, C4 or Crassulacean Acid Metabolism. In this work, the Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometry technique was used to shed light and investigate about the degradation due to aging of an ancient linen textile of Egyptian origins, in order to see whether degradation phenomena change the content of stable carbon isotopes, over time. For this purpose, the δ13C values of the ancient sample were compared with contemporary Egyptian and French flax fibers samples. For the first time, it was observed that, contrary to what might have been expected, material degradation due to natural aging contributes to the phenomenon of the isotopic fractionation, due to the increasing in measured δ13C values from contemporary to ancient samples.