Silva-Bessa Angela, Azevedo Rui, Almeida Agostinho, Dawson Lorna, Forbes Shari L, Ferreira Maria Teresa, Dinis-Oliveira Ricardo Jorge
University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Coimbra 3000-456, Portugal; Associate Laboratory i4HB - Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, University Institute of Health Sciences - CESPU, Gandra 4585-116, Portugal; UCIBIO - Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Forensics and Biomedical Sciences Research Laboratory, University Institute of Health Sciences (1H-TOXRUN, IUCS-CESPU), Gandra 4585-116, Portugal.
LAQV-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto 4050-313, Portugal.
J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2024 Dec;86:127551. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2024.127551. Epub 2024 Oct 18.
In Portugal, it is common practice to reuse burial graves in cemeteries with exhumations occurring after a minimum period of three years after entombment. However, if the human remains still retain soft tissues when the grave is opened, inhumations must continue for successive periods of two years until complete skeletonization is achieved. For the past decade, several Portuguese public cemeteries have been struggling with the lack of burial space mainly due to a slow cadaveric decomposition. As such, this work aims to understand if the chemical elemental concentrations found in the depositional environment of deceased individuals is influencing human taphonomy.
A total of 112 soil samples were collected from graves of five Portuguese public cemeteries and the concentration of 28 chemical elements was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A total of 56 head hair samples and 19 fingernail samples were also collected from cadaveric remains and analysed for the same purpose.
Overall, all matrices showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between skeletonised and preserved individuals. Although it was considered that the preserved bodies would display higher elemental concentrations than the skeletonised ones, this hypothesis was not confirmed.
The authors believe that changes in the burial conditions over time may have enable the disintegration of soft tissues even if they were initially preserved due to the presence of chemical elements. Similar studies on a global scale should be considered as they could bring together distinct perspectives and lead to more comprehensive and innovative solutions for cemetery management.
在葡萄牙，公墓中重复使用墓穴是常见做法，通常在埋葬至少三年后进行尸体挖掘。然而，如果墓穴打开时人体遗骸仍保留软组织，则必须连续两年继续埋葬，直到完全白骨化。在过去十年中，葡萄牙的几个公共墓地一直在为缺乏埋葬空间而苦苦挣扎，主要原因是尸体分解缓慢。因此，这项工作旨在了解在死者沉积环境中发现的化学元素浓度是否会影响人类尸体的保存情况。
从五个葡萄牙公共墓地的墓穴中总共采集了112份土壤样本，并通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测量了28种化学元素的浓度。还从尸体遗骸中总共采集了56份头发样本和19份指甲样本，并出于相同目的进行了分析。
总体而言，所有基质在白骨化个体和保存完好的个体之间均显示出统计学上的显著差异（p < 0.05）。尽管人们认为保存完好的尸体比白骨化的尸体显示出更高的元素浓度，但这一假设并未得到证实。
作者认为，随着时间的推移，埋葬条件的变化可能使软组织即使最初因化学元素的存在而得以保存，也会发生分解。应考虑在全球范围内开展类似研究，因为它们可以汇集不同的观点，并为墓地管理带来更全面、创新的解决方案。
