Determination of the elemental status of ancient human bones from Bockenheim/Rheinland-Pfalz by PIGE and PIXE

Continuing the investigations on ancient human bones of the Merowingian per iod (6-8th century AD) [St. Jankuhn, T. Butz. R.-H. Flagmeyer, T. Reinert, J. Vogt, J. Hammerl, R. Protsch von Zieten, M. Wolf H. Baumann, K. Bethge, I. Symietz, in: J.L. Duggan, I.L. Morgan (Eds.), CP392, Appl. of Accelerato rs in Res. and Ind., AIR, Woodbury, NY, 1997. p. 575], we have prepared a s eries of 57 samples of bone from the so-called Ward's triangle. This region is an inner part of the femoral neck and one of the areas of high fracture risk in the case of osteoporosis. The bones were excavated from a former c emetery near Bockenheim/Rheinland-Pfalz. Germany. Firstly, the sample prepa ration method will be described. Secondly, the experimental setup will be o utlined for the ion beam methods proton backscattering (PBS), proton induce d gamma-ray emission (PIGE), and proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) which are implemented simultaneously at the 2 MV Van de Graaff accelerator of th e Universitat Leipzig. Thirdly, the concentrations of the main and trace el ements will be presented in the form of a correlation matrix for the elemen ts detected by PIGE and PIXE. From this, a correlation coefficient matrix i s derived whose values will be discussed in detail. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.