J Archaeol Sci 32 (5)

To determine whether ancient DNA (aDNA) can be used to study the palaeopathology of venereal syphilis, the authors carried out a comprehensive analysis of the preservation of human and pathogen DNA in a set of forty-six bones of various ages, most of which displayed osteological indications of the disease. Bones came from seven English cemetery sites that were in use during the ninth--nineteenth centuries. Failure to detect treponemal DNA in bones that were suitable for aDNA analysis, using highly sensitive polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), suggests that treponemal DNA is not preserved in human bone and that it is therefore not possible to use aDNA analysis to study venereal syphilis.

A geochemical soil survey was carried out over 500 m2 of a first- and second-century AD house complex in insula IX of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester, Hampshire) where there was little prima facie evidence for non-ferrous metalworking. Preliminary analyses were made by XRF of lead, zinc and copper. These were followed by analysis for Au, Ag and Sn by ICP-MS of the samples with the highest concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cu. Certain of the Pb, Zn and Cu concentrations suggest the working of copper alloy including brass, and could be associated with archaeological evidence of hearths and burnt areas of second century AD date. Other samples have concentrations of the above metals and of gold and silver which do not appear to be associated with any physical remains of hearths and burnt areas. These concentrations date to the mid-first century AD.