Shankland Sheona Isobel, Willmott Hugh, Taylor Adam Michael, Kerns Jemma Gillian
Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG, UK.
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Appl Spectrosc. 2025 Mar;79(3):413-425. doi: 10.1177/00037028241291601. Epub 2024 Nov 8.
Archaeological human remains provide key insight into lifestyles, health, and diseases affecting past societies. However, only limited analyses can be conducted without causing damage due to the destructive nature of current technologies. The same problem exists with current clinical analyses of the skeleton, and the preferred advanced imaging techniques only provide macroscopic information. Raman spectroscopy could provide chemical information without detriment to archaeological bone samples and perhaps the need for invasive diagnostic procedures in the future. This study measured archaeological human vertebrae to investigate if chemical differences with aging were detectable with Raman spectroscopy and if differences in mineral chemistry could contribute to information on bone mineral diseases. The three lowest bones of the spine (lumbar vertebrae L3-L5), which are subject to the heaviest loading in life, of nine adults from three age groups (18-25, 25-45, and 45+ years) were provided by the Thornton Abbey Project. Three biomechanically important anatomical locations were selected for analysis; likely sites chosen to measure any chemical changes associated with aging, the vertebral body center and the zygapophyseal joints. Results detected chemical changes associated with aging. These changes relate to the minerals phosphate (∼960 cm) and carbonate (∼1070 cm), which are fundamental to bone function. Overall mineralization was found to increase with aging, but while carbonate increased with age, phosphate increased up to ∼45 years and then declined. These fluctuations were found in all three vertebrae, but were more distinct in L5, particularly in the vertebral body, indicating this is an optimal area for detecting bone mineral chemistry changes with aging. This is the first Raman analysis of bone samples from the historically significant site of Thornton Abbey. Results detected age-related changes, illustrating that ancient remains can be used to enhance understanding of modern diseases and provide information on the health and lifestyle of historic individuals.
考古发掘出的人类遗骸为了解影响过去社会的生活方式、健康状况和疾病提供了关键线索。然而，由于现有技术具有破坏性，在不造成损害的情况下只能进行有限的分析。当前对骨骼的临床分析也存在同样的问题，而首选的先进成像技术仅能提供宏观信息。拉曼光谱能够在不损害考古骨骼样本的情况下提供化学信息，并且未来可能无需进行侵入性诊断程序。本研究对考古发掘出的人类椎骨进行了测量，以探究拉曼光谱是否能够检测出与衰老相关的化学差异，以及矿物化学差异是否有助于了解骨矿物质疾病。来自桑顿修道院项目的9名成年人（分三个年龄组：18 - 25岁、25 - 45岁和45岁以上）的脊柱最下面的三块骨头（腰椎L3 - L5），这些骨头在生活中承受的负荷最重。选择了三个具有重要生物力学意义的解剖位置进行分析；这些位置可能是为了测量与衰老相关的任何化学变化而选定的，即椎体中心和关节突关节。结果检测到了与衰老相关的化学变化。这些变化与对骨骼功能至关重要的矿物质磷酸盐（约960 cm）和碳酸盐（约 1070 cm）有关。总体矿化程度随衰老而增加，但碳酸盐随年龄增长而增加，磷酸盐在约45岁之前增加，之后下降。在所有三块椎骨中都发现了这些波动，但在L5中更为明显，尤其是在椎体中，这表明该区域是检测随衰老而发生的骨矿物质化学变化的最佳部位。这是对具有历史意义的桑顿修道院遗址的骨骼样本进行的首次拉曼分析。结果检测到了与年龄相关的变化，说明古代遗骸可用于增进对现代疾病的理解，并提供有关历史人物健康状况和生活方式的信息。
