Kenneth Pye Associates Ltd. - www.kpal.co.uk Kenneth Pye Associates Ltd.
 Scientific Research, Consultancy and Investigations

              
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Chemical fingerprinting and dating of bone and tooth material
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Isotopic and elemental concentration data can be extremely useful in the identification of human remains. Archaeological, ecological and forensic investigations to date have primarily made use of 87Sr/86Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, 18O/16O and trace element data obtained from analysis of carbonate-hydroxyapatite in bones and teeth, and/or 12C/13C, 14N/15N, 18O/16O and 35S/37S ratios in bone collagen. However, a wide range of other chemical parameters are potentially useful for inter-sample comparison and environmental characterization, and increasing attention is being given to hair, nail and skin tissues which provide dietary and environmental information over shorter time periods than bones and teeth.

 

    
Skull of an unidentified murder victim                                     Unusual skull recovered in NW Mexico 

 

    
Binocular microscope image of a piece of bone under      Fluorescence microscope image of the same piece of
plain light conditions                                                        bone

 


Comparison of strontium isotope ratios in bone and tooth material from an unknown murder victim with
control samples taken from the UK

 

    
Binocular microscope image showing a cross-section      SEM image of a cross-section through the side of a
through the top of a tooth                                               tooth distinguishing dentine from enamel

 


EDX spectra showing the chemical composition of enamel of a human tooth

Publications

Pye, K. (2004) Isotope and trace element analysis of human teeth and bones for forensic purposes. In: Pye, K. and Croft, D. (Eds.) Forensic Geoscience - Principles, Techniques and Applications. Geological Society Special Publication No. 232, Geological Society Publishing House, Bath, pp. 215-236.
(click to view the abstract of this paper)

 


Kenneth Pye Associates Ltd. - Environmental Consultants
Page last modified: July 11, 2007