Mineral analysis of ancient Peruvian hair.

Ancient Peruvian hair has been excavated from a series of archaeological sites on the Peruvian coast. After careful cleaning, examination by scanning electron microscopy revealed most of the samples to be in a state of preservation comparable to modern hair. No evidence of pathological conditions was observed. Trace metal composition was determined by atomic absorption and flame emission spectrophotometry and nitrogen by Kjeldahl analysis, producing the following results: (1) nitrogen is lost with time, while all other tested minerals except zinc and copper showed irregular increases; (2) relatively high chromium levels may indicate that diabetes was not present in the samples; and (3) no consistent trend in the ratio of calcium to strontium was found through time and across corresponding dietary shifts.