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Morton-Hayward AL, Anderson RP, Saupe EE, Larson G, Cosmidis JG. Human brains preserve in diverse environments for at least 12 000 years. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232606. [PMID: 38503334 PMCID: PMC10950470 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The brain is thought to be among the first human organs to decompose after death. The discovery of brains preserved in the archaeological record is therefore regarded as unusual. Although mechanisms such as dehydration, freezing, saponification, and tanning are known to allow for the preservation of the brain on short time scales in association with other soft tissues (≲4000 years), discoveries of older brains, especially in the absence of other soft tissues, are rare. Here, we collated an archive of more than 4400 human brains preserved in the archaeological record across approximately 12 000 years, more than 1300 of which constitute the only soft tissue preserved amongst otherwise skeletonized remains. We found that brains of this type persist on time scales exceeding those preserved by other means, which suggests an unknown mechanism may be responsible for preservation particular to the central nervous system. The untapped archive of preserved ancient brains represents an opportunity for bioarchaeological studies of human evolution, health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra L. Morton-Hayward
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Target Discovery Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Ross P. Anderson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- All Souls College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Erin E. Saupe
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Greger Larson
- Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Bertrand L, Thoury M, Gueriau P, Anheim É, Cohen S. Deciphering the Chemistry of Cultural Heritage: Targeting Material Properties by Coupling Spectral Imaging with Image Analysis. Acc Chem Res 2021; 54:2823-2832. [PMID: 34143613 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The chemical study of materials from natural history and cultural heritage, which provide information for art history, archeology, or paleontology, presents a series of specific challenges. The complexity of these ancient and historical materials, which are chemically heterogeneous, the product of alteration processes, and inherently not reproducible, is a major obstacle to a thorough understanding of their making and long-term behavior (e.g., fossilization). These challenges required the development of methodologies and instruments coupling imaging and data processing approaches that are optimized for the specific properties of the materials. This Account discusses how these characteristics not only constrain their study but also open up specific innovative avenues for providing key historical information. Synchrotron methods have extensively been used since the late 1990s to study heritage objects, in particular for their potential to provide speciation information from excitation spectroscopies and to image complex heritage objects and samples in two and three dimensions at high resolution. We examine in practice how the identification of key intrinsic chemical specificities has offered fertile ground for the development of novel synchrotron approaches allowing a better stochastic description of the properties of ancient and historical materials. These developments encompass three main aspects: (1) The multiscale heterogeneity of these materials can provide an essential source of information in the development of probes targeting their multiple scales of homogeneity. (2) Chemical alteration can be described in many ways, e.g., by segmenting datasets in a semiquantitative way to jointly inform morphological and chemical transformation pathways. (3) The intrinsic individuality of chemical signatures in artifacts triggers the development of specific strategies, such as those focusing on weak signal detection. We propose a rereading of the advent of these new methodologies for analysis and characterization and examine how they have led to innovative strategies combining materials science, instrument development, history, and data science. In particular, we show that spectral imaging and the search for correlations in image datasets have provided a powerful way to address what archeologists have called the uncertainty and ambiguity of the material record. This approach has implications beyond synchrotron techniques and extends in particular to a series of rapidly developing approaches that couple spectral and spatial information, as in hyperspectral imaging and spatially resolved mass spectrometry. The preeminence of correlations holds promise for the future development of machine learning methods for processing data on historical objects. Beyond heritage, these developments are an original source of inspiration for the study of materials in many related fields, such as environmental, geochemical, or life sciences, which deal with systems whose alteration and heterogeneity cannot be neglected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loïc Bertrand
- Université Paris-Saclay, ENS Paris-Saclay, CNRS, PPSM, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Mathieu Thoury
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, ministère de la culture, UVSQ, MNHN, IPANEMA, F-91192 Saint-Aubin, France
| | - Pierre Gueriau
- Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Geopolis, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Étienne Anheim
- Centre de recherches historiques, EHESS, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Serge Cohen
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, ministère de la culture, UVSQ, MNHN, IPANEMA, F-91192 Saint-Aubin, France
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Gueriau P, Réguer S, Leclercq N, Cupello C, Brito PM, Jauvion C, Morel S, Charbonnier S, Thiaudière D, Mocuta C. Visualizing mineralization processes and fossil anatomy using synchronous synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction mapping. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20200216. [PMID: 32842887 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Fossils, including those that occasionally preserve decay-prone soft tissues, are mostly made of minerals. Accessing their chemical composition provides unique insight into their past biology and/or the mechanisms by which they preserve, leading to a series of developments in chemical and elemental imaging. However, the mineral composition of fossils, particularly where soft tissues are preserved, is often only inferred indirectly from elemental data, while X-ray diffraction that specifically provides phase identification received little attention. Here, we show the use of synchrotron radiation to generate not only X-ray fluorescence elemental maps of a fossil, but also mineralogical maps in transmission geometry using a two-dimensional area detector placed behind the fossil. This innovative approach was applied to millimetre-thick cross-sections prepared through three-dimensionally preserved fossils, as well as to compressed fossils. It identifies and maps mineral phases and their distribution at the microscale over centimetre-sized areas, benefitting from the elemental information collected synchronously, and further informs on texture (preferential orientation), crystallite size and local strain. Probing such crystallographic information is instrumental in defining mineralization sequences, reconstructing the fossilization environment and constraining preservation biases. Similarly, this approach could potentially provide new knowledge on other (bio)mineralization processes in environmental sciences. We also illustrate that mineralogical contrasts between fossil tissues and/or the encasing sedimentary matrix can be used to visualize hidden anatomies in fossils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Gueriau
- Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.,Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, ministère de la Culture, UVSQ, MNHN, Institut photonique d'analyse non-destructive européen des matériaux anciens, 91192 Saint-Aubin, France.,Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Solenn Réguer
- Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
| | - Nicolas Leclercq
- Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
| | - Camila Cupello
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia/IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, R. São Francisco Xavier, 524-Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro 20550-900, Brazil
| | - Paulo M Brito
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia/IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, R. São Francisco Xavier, 524-Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro 20550-900, Brazil
| | - Clément Jauvion
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR 7590, IRD, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, IMPMC, 75005 Paris, France.,Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie-Paris (CR2P UMR 7207), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Séverin Morel
- Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie-Paris (CR2P UMR 7207), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Sylvain Charbonnier
- Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie-Paris (CR2P UMR 7207), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Dominique Thiaudière
- Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
| | - Cristian Mocuta
- Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
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Zougrou ΙM, Stoulos S, Kantiranis N, Papadopoulou L, Ioakeimidis I, Katsikini M, Paloura E, Tsoukala E. Natural radioactivity studies in a paleontology site and paleoclimate interpretation of the last 8 Mya. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2018; 193-194:1-14. [PMID: 30172960 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Revised: 08/09/2018] [Accepted: 08/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Fossil bones and sediments from different horizons of the Upper Miocene paleontological site of Platania, Drama-Greece were studied using 238U, 235U, 232Th series and 40K measurements obtained by γ-spectroscopy. Additionally, SEM and XRF analysis was applied to bone and sediment samples while a lithological analysis of the sediments was also carried out. The 226Ra/238U ratios in the fossilization layers are attributed to the 238U depletion from the sediment and its incorporation into the fossils. The 226Ra/231Pa ratio indicates that the absorption of the isotopes started long before 4.2 Ma ago. The 232Th/40K profile demonstrate two distinct geological substrates, the lower corresponding to the Upper Miocene whereas the upper to the Upper Pleistocene-Holocene. Among them mediates a Mn-rich layer associated with the "Zanclean flood" during Pliocene. One layer above the "Glacial maximum event" during the Early Pleistocene was recorded. The natural radioactive sedimentary profile obtained reproduces the paleo-climatic conditions in Southeast Europe, which could be useful for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ιoanna Maria Zougrou
- Department of Solid State Physics, School of Physics, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Stilianos Stoulos
- Department of Nuclear and Elementary Particles Physics, School of Physics, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece.
| | - Nikolaos Kantiranis
- Department of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, School of Geology, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Lambrini Papadopoulou
- Department of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, School of Geology, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Ioakeim Ioakeimidis
- Department of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, School of Geology, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Maria Katsikini
- Department of Solid State Physics, School of Physics, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Eleni Paloura
- Department of Solid State Physics, School of Physics, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
| | - Evangelia Tsoukala
- Department of Geology, School of Geology, AUTH, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
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Guimarães D, Roberts AA, Tehrani MW, Huang R, Smieska L, Woll AR, Lin S, Parsons PJ. Characterization of Arsenic in dried baby shrimp ( Acetes sp.) using synchrotron-based X-Ray Spectrometry and LC coupled to ICP-MS/MS. JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY 2018; 33:1616-1630. [PMID: 32624635 PMCID: PMC7333245 DOI: 10.1039/c8ja00094h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
The arsenic content of dried baby shrimp (Acetes sp.) was investigated as part of an independent field study of human exposure to toxic metals/metalloids among the ethnic Chinese community located in Upstate New York. The dried baby shrimp were analyzed in a home environment using a portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) instrument based on monochromatic excitation. Study participants had obtained their dried baby shrimp either from a local Chinese market or prepared them at home. The shrimp are typically between 10-20 mm in size and are consumed whole, without separating the tail from the head. Elevated levels of As were detected using portable XRF, ranging between 5-30 μg/g. Shrimp samples were taken to the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) for Synchrotron Radiation μXRF (SR-μXRF) elemental mapping using a 384-pixel Maia detector system. The Maia detector provided high resolution trace element images for As, Ca, and Br, (among others) and showed localized accumulation of As within the shrimp's cephalothorax (head), and various abdominal segments. As quantification by SR-μXRF was performed using a Lobster hepatopancreas reference material pellet (NRC-CNRC TORT-2), with results in good agreement with both portable XRF and ICP-MS. Additional As characterization using μX-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (μXANES) with the Maia XRF detector at CHESS identified arsenobetaine and/or arsenocholine as the possible As species present. Further arsenic speciation analysis by LC-ICP-MS/MS confirmed that the majority of As (>95%) is present as the largely non-toxic arsenobetaine species with trace amounts of arsenocholine, methylated As and inorganic As species detected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Guimarães
- Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, The University at Albany, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
| | - Austin A. Roberts
- Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, The University at Albany, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
| | - Mina W. Tehrani
- Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, The University at Albany, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
| | - Rong Huang
- Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| | - Louisa Smieska
- Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| | - Arthur R. Woll
- Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| | - Shao Lin
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, The University at Albany, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
| | - Patrick J. Parsons
- Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, The University at Albany, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
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Davesne D, Gueriau P, Dutheil DB, Bertrand L. Exceptional preservation of a Cretaceous intestine provides a glimpse of the early ecological diversity of spiny-rayed fishes (Acanthomorpha, Teleostei). Sci Rep 2018; 8:8509. [PMID: 29855529 PMCID: PMC5981375 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26744-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Acanthomorph teleosts (spiny-rayed fishes) account for approximately a third of extant vertebrate species. They appeared during the Late Cretaceous and have been a major component of aquatic biodiversity since the early Cenozoic. They occupy today most trophic levels and ecological niches in aquatic environments, however very little is known about those that were adopted by the earliest representatives of the group. Here, we report on an exceptional glimpse into the ecological diversity of early spiny-rayed fishes provided by the unusual preservation of a newly discovered specimen of the freshwater acanthomorph Spinocaudichthys from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco. A combination of major-to-trace elemental mapping methods reveals that the gross morphology of the specimen's intestine has been remarkably preserved owing to the rapid mineralization of iron hydroxides around it. Differing with the typically short and straight intestinal tract of carnivorous teleosts, the intestine in Spinocaudichthys is long and highly convoluted, indicating a probable herbivorous diet. Acanthomorphs would therefore have conquered various ecological niches in their early evolutionary history, prior to their subsequent phylogenetic diversification in both marine and freshwater environments that followed the K-Pg extinction event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald Davesne
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, OX1 3AN, Oxford, United Kingdom.
- Centre de Recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements, UMR7207 (CNRS-MNHN-Sorbonne Université), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 75005, Paris, France.
| | - Pierre Gueriau
- Centre de Recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements, UMR7207 (CNRS-MNHN-Sorbonne Université), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 75005, Paris, France.
- IPANEMA, CNRS, ministère de la Culture, UVSQ, USR3461, Université Paris-Saclay, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
- Synchrotron SOLEIL, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - Didier B Dutheil
- Centre de Recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements, UMR7207 (CNRS-MNHN-Sorbonne Université), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Loïc Bertrand
- IPANEMA, CNRS, ministère de la Culture, UVSQ, USR3461, Université Paris-Saclay, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Synchrotron SOLEIL, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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Bertrand L, Bernard S, Marone F, Thoury M, Reiche I, Gourrier A, Sciau P, Bergmann U. Emerging Approaches in Synchrotron Studies of Materials from Cultural and Natural History Collections. Top Curr Chem (Cham) 2016; 374:7. [DOI: 10.1007/s41061-015-0003-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2015] [Accepted: 11/24/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Abstract
Patterns in rare earth element (REE) concentrations are essential instruments to assess geochemical processes in Earth and environmental sciences. Excursions in the "cerium anomaly" are widely used to inform on past redox conditions in sediments. This proxy resources to the specificity of cerium to adopt both the +III and +IV oxidation states, while most rare earths are purely trivalent and share very similar reactivity and transport properties. In practical terms, the level of cerium anomaly is established through elemental point quantification and profiling. All these models rely on a supposed homogeneity of the cerium oxidation state within the samples. However, this has never been demonstrated, whereas the cerium concentration can significantly vary within a sample, as shown for fossils, which would vastly complicate interpretation of REE patterns. Here, we report direct micrometric mapping of Ce speciation through synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy and production of local rare earth patterns in paleontological fossil tissues through X-ray fluorescence mapping. The sensitivity of the approach is demonstrated on well-preserved fishes and crustaceans from the Late Cretaceous (ca. 95 million years (Myr) old). The presence of Ce under the +IV form within the fossil tissues is attributed to slightly oxidative local conditions of burial and agrees well with the limited negative cerium anomaly observed in REE patterns. The [Ce(IV)]/[Ce(tot)] ratio appears remarkably stable at the microscale within each fossil and is similar between fossils from the locality. Speciation maps were obtained from an original combination of synchrotron microbeam X-ray fluorescence, absorption spectroscopy, and diffraction, together with light and electron microscopy. This work also highlights the need for more systematic studies of cerium geochemistry at the microscale in paleontological contexts, in particular across fossil histologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Gueriau
- IPANEMA, USR 3461, CNRS, ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, BP48 Saint-Aubin, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.,Synchrotron SOLEIL , BP48 Saint-Aubin, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Cristian Mocuta
- Synchrotron SOLEIL , BP48 Saint-Aubin, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Loïc Bertrand
- IPANEMA, USR 3461, CNRS, ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, BP48 Saint-Aubin, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.,Synchrotron SOLEIL , BP48 Saint-Aubin, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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