Analysis of Nicotine in Archaeological Skeletons from the Early Modern Age and from the Bronze Age

Abstract

In the last few years, identifications of drugs in archaeological human remains were reported several times but comments on the reliability of the data were often missing. To obtain valid data, in particular on nicotine residues in ancient bones, two skeletal series were analyzed and environmental influences on the results estimated in an exposure experiment. Bone samples from the early modern age (18th century, Goslar, Germany) and from the Bronze Age (Lichtenstein Cave, Germany) were analyzed for the tobacco alkaloid and its major metabolite, cotinine. In 22 out of 34 femur samples of the Goslar series, trace amounts of nicotine were found, but no cotinine, the major metabolite. Its finding would have proved the use of tobacco in the historic population, whereas the mere discovery of nicotine cannot discriminate between endogenous material and that resulting from a contamination during the sample treatment or museum storage. This points to the necessity of further pilot studies for long-term persistence, since it was not clarified whether insufficient accumulation or poor stability may have prevented the detection of cotinine. The magnitude of a possible nicotine deposition was estimated in a control exposure experiment. A Bronze Age bone sample that definitely contained no nicotine, as proven by pretests, was exposed to environmental tobacco smoke for six weeks and then analyzed. In one part, 11.6 ng g m 1 nicotine were estimated and, in another, washed before the analysis, 35.9 ng g m 1 were estimated. The higher amount of nicotine can be explained by the fact that tobacco smoke deposits were rinsed from the surface into the inner parts during the washing step. The results highlight the importance of additional analyses for metabolites; new patterns must be created that incorporate all now widespread drugs.