CLEANING PROTOCOL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DENTAL CALCULUS. A METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL FOR VEGETABLE MICROREMAINS ANALYSIS

TAVARONE, ALDANA; COLOBIG, MILAGROS; PASSEGGI, ESTEBAN; FABRA, MARIANA

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2018 p. 416 - 416

0002-9483

bjectives: One of the major drawbacks involves the contamination produced during the sampling of dental calculus samples due to their manipulation with non-sterilized latex gloves containing maize starch. These gloves have been commonly used for the sampling, cleaning and conservation of archaeological materials. The objective of the present work is to propose a protocol for the cleaning of dental calculus samples that have been contaminated, allowing the removal of such material from the calculus surface. The application of this protocol guarantees the exogenous elements elimination without causing the loss of the archaeological material, since as it is a non-destructive and / or invasive cleaning method, it remains contained within the dental calculus which protects and guarantees its preservation.Materials and Methods: 57 fragments of dental calculus were recovered from several archaeological sites in the province of Córdoba, Argentina, dated by AMS between 4058-387 14C years BP. A