Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 8, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34376-w
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Funding
- Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/MULTI/00070/2013, PEst-OE/SADG/UI0283/2013, PTDC/IVC-ANT/1201/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016766), SFRH/BPD/84268/2012]
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Complementary vibrational spectroscopic techniques - infrared, Raman and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) -were applied to the study of human bone burned under controlled conditions (400 to 1000 degrees C). This is an innovative way of tackling bone diagenesis upon burning, aiming at a quantitative evaluation of heat-induced dimensional changes allowing a reliable estimation of pre-burning skeletal dimensions. INS results allowed the concomitant observation of the hydroxyl libration (OHlibration): hydroxyl stretching (nu(OH)) and (OHlibration +nu(OH)) combination modes, leading to an unambiguous assignment of these INS features to bioapatite and confirming hydroxylation of bone's inorganic matrix. The OHlib, nu(OH) and nu(4)(PO43-) bands were identified as spectral biomarkers, which displayed clear quantitative relationships with temperature revealing heat-induced changes in bone's H-bonding pattern during the burning process. These results will enable the routine use of FTIR-ATR (Fourier Transform Infrared-Attenuated Total Reflectance) for the analysis of burned skeletal remains, which will be of the utmost significance in forensic, bioanthropological and archaeological contexts.
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