An 8500-year-old bladder stone from Uzzo Cave (Trapani): Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy analysis

Abstract

A calcium carbonate (calcite) bladder calculus was found in the pelvis of an adult female buried in a Mesolithic cave-tomb on the coast of Sicily; it was dated by 14C to around 6500 BC. Its chemical composition, which was not known before, was determined by means of Fourier transform-infared microspectroscopy (FT-IR-M) using the high-pressure diamond cell, a device that make it possible to analyse a small amount of the sample (1-2 μg). In this way, the analysis of all the laminations of the calculus was performed without destroying the sample. Although calcite was the main component, carbonate apatite was also detected in the nucleus and in a more external layer. © University of Oxford, 2005.