Raman spectroscopy detects bone mineral changes with aging in archaeological human lumbar vertebrae from Thornton Abbey

Archaeological human remains provide key insight into lifestyles, health, and diseases affecting past societies. However, only limited analyses can be conducted without causing damage due to the destructive nature of current technologies. The same problem exists with current clinical analyses of the skeleton and the preferred advanced imaging techniques only provide macroscopic information. Raman spectroscopy could provide chemical information without detriment to archaeological bone samples and perhaps the need for invasive diagnostic procedures in the future. This study measured archaeological human vertebrae to investigate if chemical differences with aging were detectable with Raman spectroscopy and if differences in mineral chemistry could contribute to information on bone mineral diseases.

The three lowest bones of the spine (L3-L5), which are subject to the heaviest loading in life, of nine adults from three age groups (18-25, 25-45, and 45+ years) were provided by ‘The Thornton Abbey Project’. Three biomechanically important anatomical locations were selected for analysis; likely sites to measure any chemical changes associated with aging: the vertebral body centre, and the zygapophyseal joints.

Results detected chemical changes associated with aging. These changes relate to the minerals phosphate (~960 cm-1) and carbonate (~1070 cm-1), which are fundamental to bone function. Overall mineralization was found to increase with aging, but while carbonate increased with age, phosphate increased up to ~45 years and then declined. These fluctuations were found in all three vertebrae, but were more distinct in L5, particularly in the vertebral body, indicating this is an optimal area for detecting bone mineral chemistry changes with aging. This is the first Raman analysis of bone samples from the historically significant site of Thornton Abbey. Results detected age-related changes, illustrating that ancient remains can be used to enhance understanding of modern diseases and provide information on the health and lifestyle of historic individuals.