Human soft tissue preservation in the Cova des Pas site (Minorca Bronze Age)

Gemma Prats-Muñoz; Ignasi Galtés; Núria Armentano; Sandra Cases; Pedro Luis Fernández; Assumpció Malgosa

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2013.07.022

Human soft tissue preservation in the Cova des Pas site (Minorca Bronze Age)

Gemma Prats-Muñoz, Ignasi Galtés, Núria Armentano, Sandra Cases, Pedro Luis Fernández, Assumpció Malgosa

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12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The preservation process of soft tissues in an archeological context is mainly unknown because they occur only in truly exceptional situations. The Cova des Pas is a Bronze Age site in Minorca where the special conditions enabled the preservation of some soft tissues associated with 66 individuals. This finding allows the study of the preservation process that took place by means of the analysis of the histological and chemical characteristics of the tissues. Our results show that the preservation mechanism was the adipocere, because the fatty acids profile shows higher concentration of saturated than unsaturated fatty acids. The evidence indicates that the kind of funerary ritual and the environmental conditions favored this preservation. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4701-4710
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume	40
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.07.022
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2013

Keywords

Histology
Mummification
Saponification
Soft tissue
Taphonomy

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10.1016/j.jas.2013.07.022

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title = "Human soft tissue preservation in the Cova des Pas site (Minorca Bronze Age)",

abstract = "The preservation process of soft tissues in an archeological context is mainly unknown because they occur only in truly exceptional situations. The Cova des Pas is a Bronze Age site in Minorca where the special conditions enabled the preservation of some soft tissues associated with 66 individuals. This finding allows the study of the preservation process that took place by means of the analysis of the histological and chemical characteristics of the tissues. Our results show that the preservation mechanism was the adipocere, because the fatty acids profile shows higher concentration of saturated than unsaturated fatty acids. The evidence indicates that the kind of funerary ritual and the environmental conditions favored this preservation. {\textcopyright} 2013 Elsevier Ltd.",

keywords = "Histology, Mummification, Saponification, Soft tissue, Taphonomy",

author = "Gemma Prats-Mu{\~n}oz and Ignasi Galt{\'e}s and N{\'u}ria Armentano and Sandra Cases and Fern{\'a}ndez, {Pedro Luis} and Assumpci{\'o} Malgosa",

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AU - Prats-Muñoz, Gemma

AU - Galtés, Ignasi

AU - Armentano, Núria

AU - Cases, Sandra

AU - Fernández, Pedro Luis

AU - Malgosa, Assumpció

PY - 2013/1/1

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N2 - The preservation process of soft tissues in an archeological context is mainly unknown because they occur only in truly exceptional situations. The Cova des Pas is a Bronze Age site in Minorca where the special conditions enabled the preservation of some soft tissues associated with 66 individuals. This finding allows the study of the preservation process that took place by means of the analysis of the histological and chemical characteristics of the tissues. Our results show that the preservation mechanism was the adipocere, because the fatty acids profile shows higher concentration of saturated than unsaturated fatty acids. The evidence indicates that the kind of funerary ritual and the environmental conditions favored this preservation. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

AB - The preservation process of soft tissues in an archeological context is mainly unknown because they occur only in truly exceptional situations. The Cova des Pas is a Bronze Age site in Minorca where the special conditions enabled the preservation of some soft tissues associated with 66 individuals. This finding allows the study of the preservation process that took place by means of the analysis of the histological and chemical characteristics of the tissues. Our results show that the preservation mechanism was the adipocere, because the fatty acids profile shows higher concentration of saturated than unsaturated fatty acids. The evidence indicates that the kind of funerary ritual and the environmental conditions favored this preservation. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

KW - Histology

KW - Mummification

KW - Saponification

KW - Soft tissue

KW - Taphonomy

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DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2013.07.022

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VL - 40

SP - 4701

EP - 4710

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

ER -

Human soft tissue preservation in the Cova des Pas site (Minorca Bronze Age)

Abstract

Keywords

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