DIAGENETIC EVOLUTION AND EXPERIMENTAL HEATING OF BONE PHOSPHATE

Fresh bone samples have been experimentally heated, with monitoring of the evolution of several parameters. The comparison of these results with a large suite of measurements performed on archaeological and fos sil bones gave valuable clues about some possible mechanisms of the di agenetic evolution of bone crystallinity. The main conclusions of this comparison are that (1) bone organic matter protects the mineral phas e and thus needs to be significantly altered before crystallographic c hanges occur, and (2) loss of structural carbonate may be a key factor in the increase of bone crystallinity. The crystallinity of carbonate hydroxylapatite seems to monitor the degree to diagenetic evolution, and thus may be used to detect diagenetic alteration of biogenic paleo environmental signals in archaeological and fossil bones, independentl y of their age.