Hi Julie,

I don't know of any studies on recovery of morphine from archaeological
sites and I suspect there wouldn't be much in the literature.  But your best
bet might be contacting crime labs, perhaps the FBI lab.  The key question
is how long does it take morphine to break down in the soil.  The anaerobic
environment in the soil might be expected to prolong the "lifetime" of
morphine.  On the other hand, soil microbes will digest most organic
substances and probably morphine- maybe they get "high"?

Allen Vegotsky
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-----Original Message-----
From: Julie Schablitsky <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, June 10, 2002 4:11 PM
Subject: MORPHINE (OPIATE) RECOVERY


>Dear Histarchers,
>
>Do you have any references or experiences with identifying morphine or
other
>opiates from syringes, medicine bottles, or any other artifact?  I am aware
of
>Espenshade's work at Camp Baird, South Carolina using the mass spec.  I
also
>heard of another unsuccessful attempt to extract morphine from a medicine
>capsule...reference unknown.  I would greatly appreciate any additional
>references or experiences on the successful or unsucessful attempts at
opiate
>recovery from artifacts.
>
>Thank you.
>
>Julie Schablitsky
>