Lander Stacey L, Hosie Margot, Brits Desiré
Human Variation and Identification Research Unit, School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa.
Biology (Basel). 2023 Feb 27;12(3):378. doi: 10.3390/biology12030378.
Human skeletons associated with early gold mining in Johannesburg, South Africa are investigated. An unmarked cemetery was buried beneath a mine dump which resulted in macroscopically stained and poorly preserved bones. Histological assessments were conducted to understand the postmortem treatment of the remains, determine the extent of bone degradation, and understand how this environment affected the bone's microstructure. Various diagenetic alterations and the general histological index were assessed using normal and polarized light microscopy of thin anterior midshaft femur sections (n = 50). Degradation was identified in the periosteal and endosteal regions, while the intra-cortical region remained well-preserved. Bacterial bioerosion, microcracks, infiltrations, inclusions, and staining were found throughout the sample. Numerous non-Wedl micro-foci of destruction were observed, filled with exogenous material. The degradation suggested that the remains were buried in neutral soil that was subsequently covered by acidic mine dumps which resulted in a corrosive environment. Although the skeletons were poorly preserved, their histological integrity was more promising, especially the intra-cortical area. This is important for future investigations of archaeological bone, as this area can lead to more accurate descriptions of skeletal assemblages. Targeted sampling of this region could produce promising estimates of age, descriptions of pathology, and biomolecular results, which require further study.
对与南非约翰内斯堡早期金矿开采相关的人类骨骼进行了调查。一个没有标记的墓地被掩埋在一个矿渣堆之下，这导致骨骼在宏观上有污渍且保存不佳。进行了组织学评估，以了解遗骸的死后处理情况，确定骨骼降解的程度，并了解这种环境如何影响骨骼的微观结构。使用股骨前中轴薄切片（n = 50）的正常光镜和偏光显微镜评估了各种成岩变化和一般组织学指标。在骨膜和骨内膜区域发现了降解，而皮质内区域保存完好。在整个样本中发现了细菌生物侵蚀、微裂纹、浸润、内含物和染色。观察到许多非韦德尔微破坏灶，里面充满了外源物质。这种降解表明，遗骸被埋在中性土壤中，随后被酸性矿渣堆覆盖，从而形成了一个腐蚀性环境。尽管骨骼保存不佳，但其组织学完整性更有希望，尤其是皮质内区域。这对未来考古骨骼的研究很重要，因为这个区域可以对骨骼组合进行更准确的描述。对该区域进行有针对性的采样可以得出有希望的年龄估计、病理学描述和生物分子结果，这些都需要进一步研究。
