THE STUDY OF NABATAEAN ORGANIC RESIDUES FROM MADÂ’IN SÂLIH, ANCIENT HEGRA, BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY – MASS SPECTROMETRY*

Abstract

Four Nabataean samples collected in some of the monumental tombs of Madâ'in Sâlih, ancient Hegra , in Saudi Arabia, have been studied by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. These samples are textile fragments that are either covered with a black layer or bound together with some black amorphous substance. Fatty acids and triterpenoic compounds were detected. Eight triterpenic compounds were identified: ursa-9(11),12-dien-3-ol, ursa-9(11),12-dien-3-one, olean-9(11),12-dien-3 β -ol, β -amyrone, β -amyrin, α -amyrone, αamyrin and lupeol. The resinous chemical composition and these pentacyclic alcohols, in considerable proportion, indicate a resin of the Burseraceae family, possibly of the genus Canarium .

Chemical Composition of South American Burseraceae Non‐volatile Oleoresins and Preliminary Solubility Assessment of their Commercial Blend

“…Figure exemplifies chromatograms as obtained for two representative oleoresins samples (CB and PHT), showing these as trace compounds. Lupeol isomers and lupenone have been reported as components of frankincense and other Asiatic and zAfrican oleoreins (Khalid, ; Rüdiger et al , 2007; Mathe et al , ). Their minor presence in Protium and Trattinickia species is usually characterised by NMR (Lima et al , ).…”

“… References: (a) Djerassi et al , ; (b) Budzikiewicz et al , ; (c) Ogunkoya, ; (d) Mathe et al , ; (e) Assimopoulou and Papageorgiou, ; (f) Stacey et al , ; (g) Mathe et al , ; (h) Billet et al , ; (i) Sawadogo et al , ; (j) Papageorgiou et al , ; (k) Usubillaga et al , ; (l) Marques, ; (m) Maia et al , ; (n) Tessier et al , ; (o) Guang‐Li et al , .…”

“…The chemical profile of the 11 species of Protium and Trattinickia oleoresins consisted mainly of pentacyclic triterpenes of the ursane and oleanane types, principally α‐ and β‐amyrin and their corresponding ketones. Minor compounds were represented by the tetracyclic elemolic acids and the eventual presence of friedelin (Mathe et al , ). These results and those compiled from the literature point to an averaged triterpene constitution for South American Burseraceae commercial blend of resins qualitatively definable by the chromatogram depicted in Fig.…”

“…Figure 2 exemplifies chromatograms as obtained for two representative oleoresins samples (CB and PHT), showing these as trace compounds. Lupeol isomers and lupenone have been reported as components of frankincense and other Asiatic and zAfrican oleoreins (Khalid, 1983;Rüdiger et al, 2007;Mathe et al, 2009) 455, 437, 405, 377, 355, 315, 299, 281, 255, 207, 189, 187, 174, 159, 133, 119, 107, 105, 91 (h-j), (l-n) Maniladiol (9)(3b,16b-dihydroxyolean-12-ene) 424, 409, 281, 234 (100%), 219, 216, 209, 201, 193, 175, 159, 147, 121, 119, 107, 95, 81 (f, h, m, o) Brein (10) 219, 207, 191, 175, 151, 135, 121, 119, 110, 95, 81 (f, m) a All the samples were treated with diazomethane before analyses. 407,283,269,255,229,207,189,165,151,133,107,83 Olean-9(11),12-dien-3one (a) (13.20) 407,283,269,255,225,207,185,171,157,133,…”

Underground transfer of carbonised organic residues to lithics during preliminary fire experiments: implications for archaeology

“…Lithics and bone were laid on the sedges before burial because this type of association is detected in Sibudu. In the event that residues were found to form underground, three analytical techniques that have proved effective in previous studies were selected for chemical analyses: Raman spectroscopy ( [14,15] and references therein), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy ( [16][17][18] and references therein) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) ( [19][20][21][22][23][24] and references therein).…”