The major difficulty to study bone preservation is to define which diagenetic parameters need to be taken into account when any information on environmental conditions is missing. Through this research, we contribute towards understanding the complex interplay of factors that affects human bones during diagenetic process. The work focuses on how organic and mineral components influence each other and how they influence the resulting micro-structural assessment of human bone. The mineral and organic properties of 24 adult human long bones from archaeological to contemporary burials in Milan (Italy) were characterized through different analytical techniques, in relation to the preservation of their microstructure and porosity. The 3D microstructure of the bone tissue was carried out through the use of phase contrast synchrotron radiation computed micro-tomography (SR-μCT). The results show that when diagenesis proceeds, (i) the bone tissue is progressively attacked by microbes; (ii) the diagenetic porosity increases at the expense of vascular ones; (iii) the volumes, diameters, and interconnections of vascular canals are markedly reduced; (iii) the amount of organic and carbonate fraction decreases whereas bone crystallinity and mean crystal length increase; (iv) the Ca/P mole ratio in CHA crystals increases; (v) the anisotropy along c-axis in CHA crystals is lost, resulting in an increase of their domain size. Since the conservation of organic and mineral fractions is variable in relation to bone microstructure within the same period and site, the research points out the needs to perform a multi-analytical approach to characterize the bone diagenesis at different scales of observation.

中文翻译：

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考古和当代人类遗体中的骨成岩作用：骨骼3D微观结构和矿化学评估的调查

研究骨骼保存的主要困难是定义在缺少任何有关环境条件的信息时需要考虑哪些成岩参数。通过这项研究，我们有助于理解成岩过程中影响人体骨骼的因素之间的复杂相互作用。这项工作着眼于有机和矿物质成分之间如何相互影响以及它们如何影响人体骨骼的微观结构评估。通过不同的分析技术，从保存其微观结构和孔隙率的角度，对24具成年人类长骨的考古学和当代墓葬的矿物和有机特性进行了表征。骨组织的3D微观结构是通过使用相衬同步加速辐射计算机断层扫描（SR-μCT）进行的。结果表明，当进行成岩作用时，（i）骨组织逐渐受到微生物的攻击；（ii）成岩孔隙度增加，但维管孔隙度降低；（iii）血管的体积，直径和相互连接明显减少；（iii）有机物和碳酸盐含量减少，而骨结晶度和平均晶体长度增加；（iv）CHA晶体中的Ca / P摩尔比增加；（v）各向异性 血管的相互连接明显减少；（iii）有机物和碳酸盐含量减少，而骨结晶度和平均晶体长度增加；（iv）CHA晶体中的Ca / P摩尔比增加；（v）各向异性 血管的相互连接明显减少；（iii）有机物和碳酸盐含量减少，而骨结晶度和平均晶体长度增加；（iv）CHA晶体中的Ca / P摩尔比增加；（v）各向异性CHA晶体中的c轴丢失，导致其畴尺寸增加。由于在同一时期和同一地点，有机物和矿物质的保存量相对于骨骼的微观结构是可变的，因此该研究指出需要进行多种分析方法来表征不同观察水平下的骨成岩作用。