This study aimed to examine the degradation of juvenile skeletal remains with respect to adult counterparts from different burial settings in Milan, Italy. A multiscale and multimodal approach was applied to investigate bone diagenesis by combining chemical and mineralogical analyses with synchrotron radiation-based virtual histology. Certain differences could be observed between child and adult skeletal remains; juvenile bones exhibited (i) poorer histological conservation, with prominent general re-organisation of the observed three-dimensional original microstructure, resulting in denser structures with low porosity; (ii) bioapatites with low defective structures, with chemical compositions highly site-sensitive, exhibiting variation even within a single bone; (iii) organic matter highly variable in terms of quality, quantity, and arrangement, even within a single bone sample. Conversely, organic decay results in similar enrichment in calcium content both in juveniles and in adults. In conclusion, the present work points out high intra-individual skeletal preservation in archaeological juvenile bones with respect to adults, thus suggesting that immature and mature bone tissues deteriorate at different rates, foremost as a function of their intrinsic features (shape, porosity, histological structures, etc.), and secondarily under the influence of the burial environment.

本研究旨在检查来自意大利米兰不同墓地的成年骨骼遗骸的退化情况。通过将化学和矿物学分析与基于同步辐射的虚拟组织学相结合，应用多尺度和多模式方法来研究骨成岩作用。在儿童和成人骨骼遗骸之间可以观察到某些差异；幼骨表现出（i）较差的组织学保守性，观察到的三维原始微观结构的显着总体重组，导致结构更致密，孔隙率低；( ii ) 具有低缺陷结构的生物磷灰石，其化学成分对位点高度敏感，即使在单个骨骼内也表现出变化；（三) 有机质在质量、数量和排列方面变化很大，即使在单个骨骼样本中也是如此。相反，有机腐烂导致幼鱼和成鱼中钙含量的相似富集。总之，目前的工作指出，考古学幼年骨骼相对于成年人而言，个体骨骼保存较高，因此表明未成熟和成熟的骨组织以不同的速度退化，首先是其内在特征（形状、孔隙率、组织学）的函数。结构等），其次是受埋葬环境的影响。