ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

ISIS@MACH - Cinnabar mining and chronic mercury exposure in ancient populations

Abstract: Mercury from cinnabar, a natural mineral mined in ancient times for use as a red pigment, can accumulate in bones by ingestion and through the skin. The non-destructive analysis of ancient bones and other cultural-heritage specimens to detect the amount of cinnabar, or mercury in general, is a precious capability so as to elucidate several archaeological queries. The Spaccasasso site in Tuscany, Italy, after mining exploitation dated back to the late 5th, was used for funerary practices from 4th to early 3rd millennium BC. Following a preliminary analysis of a few samples, and inspired by earlier investigations in the literature, we propose a combined investigation using neutron-based techniques so as to answer these questions. Neutron experiments at the VESUVIO beamline at ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source, will be performed through the Neutron Gate of ISIS@MACH.

Principal Investigator: Dr Nicoletta Volante
Experimenter: Dr Giulia Festa
Local Contact: Professor Giovanni Romanelli
Experimenter: Dr Carlo Cazzaniga

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2000220

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2000220

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Nicoletta Volante et al; (2021): ISIS@MACH - Cinnabar mining and chronic mercury exposure in ancient populations, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2000220

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.