0482374 - ÚPT 2018 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Fialová, D. - Skoupý, Radim - Drozdová, E. - Paták, Aleš - Piňos, Jakub - Šín, L. - Beňuš, R. - Klíma, B.
The Application of Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) in Ancient Dental Calculus for the Reconstruction of Human Habits.
Microscopy and Microanalysis. Roč. 23, č. 6 (2017), s. 1207-1213. ISSN 1431-9276. E-ISSN 1435-8115
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) LO1212; GA MŠMT ED0017/01/01
Institutional support: RVO:68081731
Keywords : ancient dental calculus * SEM-EDX * human habits * the Great Moravian Empire * Napoleonic Wars
OECD category: Electrical and electronic engineering
Impact factor: 2.124, year: 2017 ; AIS: 0.671, rok: 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927617012661

The great potential of scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) is in detection of unusual chemical elements included in ancient human dental calculus to verify
hypotheses about life and burial habits of historic populations and individuals. Elemental spectra were performed from archeological samples of three chosen individuals from different time periods. The unusual presence of magnesium, aluminum, and silicon in the first sample could confirmthe hypothesis of high degree of dental abrasion
caused by particles from grinding stones in flour. In the second sample, presence of copper could confirm that bronze jewelery could lie near the buried body. The elemental composition of the third sample with the presence of lead and copper confirms the origin of individual to Napoleonic Wars because the damage to his teeth could be explained by the systematic utilization of the teeth for the opening of paper cartridges (a charge with a dose of gunpowder and a bullet), which were used during the 18th and the 19th century AD. All these results contribute to the reconstruction of life (first and third individual) and burial (second individual) habits of historic populations and individuals.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0279713