Waldron H A
Ecol Dis. 1982;1(2-3):191-6.
An attempt has been made to assess the degree to which past populations were exposed to lead by measuring the concentration of lead in bones from archaeological sites. Preliminary analysis of the results seemed to indicate that there had been a great variation in exposure to lead in the past and that, in some cases, lead might have made a significant contribution to the morbidity or mortality of the population. One persistent problem in interpreting the results has been to assess the degree to which the bones had absorbed lead from the soil. A priori reasoning led me to believe that, at sites where the bones were well preserved, little exchange of lead would have occurred. When I used physical methods to localize the lead within bones or teeth, however, it became clear that most of the lead was located on the surfaces, and this could only be explained by post-mortem absorption. At two sites I have found a significant correlation between the concentrations of lead in bones and soil taken from the same grave; this is further evidence for lead uptake after death. From the later studies it seems that exposure to lead in the past can only be determined by a careful prospective study taking random samples of bone and soil from sites, which can be dated to within narrow limits.
人们试图通过测量考古遗址出土骨骼中的铅浓度，来评估过去的人群接触铅的程度。对结果的初步分析似乎表明，过去人们接触铅的情况存在很大差异，而且在某些情况下，铅可能对人群的发病率或死亡率有重大影响。解读这些结果时一直存在的一个问题是，评估骨骼从土壤中吸收铅的程度。先验推理使我相信，在骨骼保存完好的遗址，铅的交换很少会发生。然而，当我使用物理方法确定骨骼或牙齿中的铅位置时，很明显大部分铅位于表面，这只能用死后吸收来解释。在两个遗址，我发现骨骼中的铅浓度与同一墓穴中取出的土壤中的铅浓度之间存在显著相关性；这进一步证明了死后会吸收铅。从后来的研究来看，似乎只有通过一项仔细的前瞻性研究，从可以精确测定年代的遗址随机采集骨骼和土壤样本，才能确定过去人们接触铅的情况。
