Fruit and seed biomineralization and its effect on preservation

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 2 - Trang 25-34 - 2010
Erwan Messager1,2, Aïcha Badou3, François Fröhlich3, Brigitte Deniaux2, David Lordkipanidze4, Pierre Voinchet2
1Maison de l’Archéologie et de l’Ethnologie, Nanterre cedex, France
2Département de Préhistoire, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris, France
3Département de Préhistoire, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris cedex 05, France
4Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia

Tóm tắt

Mineralised fruits and seeds are frequently found in archaeological sediments but their chemical nature has not been often examined. The nature and the origin of these archaeobotanical remains have to be investigated to understand their taphonomic history. Fruits or seeds can be mineralised not only by replacement mineralisation but also by biomineralisation during the plant life. The mineral components of three fossil fruits sampled on the Pleistocene site of Dmanisi were analysed and compared with their modern analogues. Analyses were carried out by means of an environmental scanning electron microscope, equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray device and by means of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Biogenic carbonates and/or biogenic silica were identified in the fossil and modern fruits of some taxa. Comparison between fossil and modern specimens has shown that molecular reorganisation occurred in carbonate and in biogenic silica during fossilisation, through diagenetic processes. The resulting stable mineral structures confer an exceptional preservation to fruits in sediments. Taking into account these taphonomic specificities (transformation and differential preservation), the chronological and palaeoenvironmental aspects of the mineralised fruits are discussed.

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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

Tập 2

25-34

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