Evaluation of chemical composition of cribra orbitalia from post-medieval children graves (Olomouc, Czech Republic)

Abstract

During an archaeological rescue excavation in center of city Olomouc (Moravia region, Czech Republic) several graves were found. Those graves were a part of a defunct cemetery situated in the area surrounding a church of St. Peter and Paul. The research was focused on analysis of 13 children’s skull samples affected by a chronical pathology known as “cribra orbitalia” (CO). X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were used to examine differences in the samples with respect to an individual’s age, degree of porosity (representing the progress of CO) and other observed pathologies. Both techniques proved that the ratio of calcium to iron gradually increases with the age of the child without regard to the degree of CO damage. Moreover, the ICP-MS data were evaluated using principal component analysis, which pointed out that the highest contents of Pb were found in samples from individuals suffering from rickets. The preliminary results reveal that more research on this pathology should be performed – not only for post-medieval individuals but also in prehistorical ones.

Using portable X‐ray fluorescence elemental analysis to explore porous skeletal lesions: Interplay of sex, age at death, and cause of death

“…Subira et al (1992) reported a lack of association between Fe concentration (by ICP–MS) and cribra orbitalia in a femur sample from Spain ( n = 197, 5th to 2nd centuries BCE). The same was observed by Grupe (1995) when measuring Fe (by AAS) in 20 orbital roofs from Germany (5th–7th centuries CE) and by Lundová et al (2023) in a Czech sample of 13 non‐adult skulls (by pXRF, 14th–16th centuries CE). Similarly, no variations in Fe concentration (by IPC–MS) were found in individuals with either cribra orbitalia, cribra humeralis, or cribra femoralis in non‐adult and adult femora from Spain ( n = 118, fifth to second centuries BCE) (García et al, 2002).…”

“…Sandford et al (1983) found lower Mg concentrations in individuals with cribra orbitalia, whereas neither Subira et al (1992) nor García et al (2002) observed such an association. Higher Pb content was found in the teeth ( n = 31, AAS) of non‐adult and adult individuals with cribra orbitalia from Poland (3rd to 2nd centuries BCE) (Gleń‐Haduch et al, 1997), but this trend was not recognized in other investigations (Çirak, 2016; Lundová et al, 2023; Zariņa et al, 2016). Concentrations of Ca, Mn, Cu, Zn, Sr, and Ba were also considered, yet none of these elements presented significant differences in non‐adult and adult individuals with or without cribra orbitalia (García et al, 2002; Gleń‐Haduch et al, 1997; Grupe, 1995; Sandford et al, 1983; Schutkowski & Grupe, 1997; Subira et al, 1992; Zariņa et al, 2016).…”