Figure 1.
(A) location map, (b) aerial photograph, excavation, (c) skeleton in situ, (d) dental calculus.
Table 1.
Results.
Figure 2.
Starch granules extracted from dental calculus.
(A) grave 11, polyhedral starch granule type 1. Superficially similar to Cyperus rotundus L. (note the small flecks of adhering calculus around the edge), (b) grave 104, oval starch granule type 2, (c) grave 96, partially degraded type 2 starch granules, swollen and with extinction cross losing clarity. A smaller swollen granule is also lodged in the remains of the cellular wall (top left arrow), and a fleck of soil (bottom right arrow), (d) grave 96, small round type 3 starch (arrow), with a part of larger type 2 starch nearby, both starch granules are still partially embedded in dental calculus matrix, (e and f) grave 93, two starch granules in which morphology has been lost due to processing and/or cooking, note the large cracks at their margins. Scale bars are all 20 microns.
Figure 3.
Reconstructed total ion chromatogram of the thermal desorption profiles (310°C for 10s) of human calculus samples.
Figure 3a. (A) Pre-Mesolithic Burial 35, (b) Neolithic Burial 10I, (c) Neolithic Burial 103 and (d) Meroitic Burial 74. The structures of the terpenoid compounds characteristic of C. rotundus are shown, i.e. the main monoterpenoid compounds identified: α-pinene, p-cymene and limonene, and the main sesquiterpenoid compounds identified: calarene (β-gurjunene), rotundene, γ-muurolene, α-muurolene, calamenene, calamene and cadalene. The filled square, n-C12 indicates dodecene (see text). Figure 3b. Reconstructed total ion chromatogram of the thermal desorption profile (310°C for 10s) of human calculus, Burial 74, 5.46 mg. Peak identities (x indicates carbon chain length): filled squares, Cx indicates alkenes; filled circles; filled triangles indicates C16 - C23 methyl, ethyl- and butyl- branched alkanes; filled diamonds, Cx indicates alkylcyclohexanes. Also shown are the structures of chlorobenzene, seven monoterpenoid compounds identified: α-pinene, trans-carane, p-cymene, limonene, β-phellandrene, 2-carene and p-cymenene, and seven sesquiterpenoid compounds identified: calarene (β-gurjunene), rotundene, γ-muurolene, calamenene, calamene, cadalene and guaiazulene. In addition, sequiterpenoid compounds numbered 1 to 12 were identified as: 1 = norrotundene, 2 = α -copaene, 3 = cubinene (cadina-1,4-diene), 4 = α-cedrene, 5 = unidentified sesquiterpenoid, 6 = γ-selinene, 7 = α-muurolene, 8 = γ-cadinene, 9 = α-cadinene, 10 = calacorenes (×3), 11 = dehydrocadalene, 12 = an isomer of cadalene. SO2 indicates sulphur dioxide. Inset displays a reconstructed total ion chromatogram of the pyrolysis profile (610°C for 10 s) of this sample, after thermal desorption (310°C for 10 s). Peak identities: filled squares, Cx indicates alkenes, open diamonds indicates propenenitrile and butenenitrile. Also shown are the structures of ten aromatic compounds identified: benzene, pyridine, toluene, styrene, p-xylene (coeluting with styrene), 2-chloropyridine, benzonitrile, naphthalene, biphenyl and 2-phenylpyridine, and three polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons: phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene. SO2 again indicates sulphur dioxide.