Beckett Sophie, Rogers Keith D, Clement John G
Department of Engineering and Applied Science, Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, Wiltshire SN6 8LA, UK.
J Forensic Sci. 2011 May;56(3):571-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01690.x. Epub 2011 Feb 9.
The characterization of inter-species variation in bone mineral (b-HAP) is of relevance to forensic science and archaeology, but has not previously been widely explored. Results of an investigation into unheated bone mineral and behavior of bone upon heating for 12 animal species (including human) demonstrate that b-HAP characteristics, quantitatively measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, exhibit significant inter-species variation. Human bone was found to be significantly different to all other species in terms of b-HAP lattice parameter values from unheated and heated bone and in terms of recrystallization behavior of b-HAP upon heating bone to 600°C. The amounts of b-HAP thermal decomposition products were also significantly different for human bone heated to 1400°C compared to those obtained for most other species. Therefore, there is potential for the development of an XRD-based method of species identification, particularly one that distinguishes human from non-human bone.
骨矿物质（b - 羟基磷灰石，b-HAP）种间差异的表征与法医学和考古学相关，但此前尚未得到广泛研究。一项针对12种动物（包括人类）的未加热骨矿物质以及骨加热行为的调查结果表明，使用X射线衍射（XRD）分析进行定量测量时，b-HAP特征存在显著的种间差异。在未加热和加热骨的b-HAP晶格参数值方面，以及将骨加热到600°C时b-HAP的重结晶行为方面，发现人类骨骼与所有其他物种存在显著差异。与大多数其他物种相比，加热到1400°C的人类骨骼的b-HAP热分解产物量也存在显著差异。因此，有可能开发一种基于XRD的物种鉴定方法尤其是一种能够区分人类和非人类骨骼的方法。
