MPE CONNELLY, SG SHERIDAN, and MR SCHURR.  Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN   46556

Fluoride analysis has been used in the past to provide relative dates of burials at specific sites, relying on the transport of fluoride into bone during diagenesis.   The purpose of the present investigation was to analyze percent fluoride (%F) content in human bone from two ancient Nubian cemeteries, and to determine if the values reflect postdepositional or antemortem patterns.

The Sudanese Nubian site of Kulubnarti includes a Medieval (S) cemetery (A.D. 550-750) and a Feudal (R) cemetery (A.D. 750-1550).  Dates are based on a limited collection of associated artifacts.  The area receives less than 1 mm of rainfall per year, which resulted in exceptional preservation, including natural mummification of many individuals.  A random sample of mid-shaft femur sections from 46 Nubians of all ages from both cemeteries and of both sexes were tested for %F using an ion selective electrode.

No significant difference was found in fluoride levels between the R (n=18, %F=0.046) and S (n=18, %F=0.049) cemeteries using Student’s t (p=0.33).  In addition, when R-cemetery males were compared to S-cemetery males, no significant differences were found (p=0.16).  The same pattern was true for the females (p=0.28).

The variables of age and sex were then tested to determine possible antemortem fluoride patterns.  Highly significant differences in fluoride between males (n=13,  %F=.032) and females (n=23, %F=0.056) was found both within (S: dF=16, p=0.0001; R: dF=16, p=0.008) and between (p=0.0001) the cemeteries.  Subsequently, age was regressed on %F for all individuals within and between cemeteries showing significant correlations in each situation (S: n=24, p=0.05; R: n=22, p=0.0003).  Age was then regressed on %F across both cemeteries according to sex.  The males showed a significant correlation (n=14, p=0.02), while females showed a trend towards increasing fluoride content  with age (n=22, p=0.25).
In conclusion, the fluoride values did not produce a chronological distinction for the two cemeteries.  This is likely due to the extremely dry environment and temporal closeness of the two cemeteries.  However, the demographic patterns do reflect fluoride content similar to those found in living populations.  The fluorine concentrations provide previously unseen biological correlations in an ancient population.

*This research was supported by a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid-of-Research.