Application of FTIR spectroscopy to infer ante- and post-mortem changes in archaeological human bone.

Several studies have used Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to assess chemical and structural changes caused by diagenesis in archaeological human bone, whereas other factors such as individual's biological profile (sex and age) or the type of bone have seldom been considered. In this study transmission FTIR was applied to 51 bone samples from 19 post-Roman individuals of A Lanzada necropolis (NW Spain). Mid-infrared (MIR) indices (IRSF, MMI, C/P, C/C, Am/P, BPI, API, AmI/AmII) were also calculated and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore peak ratios and differences across the whole spectrum.