Daniel
I agree absolutely that prior tests for arsenic should be carried out
on cemetery soils. No question about that.
What I was worried about was that excavators might get the jitters if
what they were observing were merely bluish crystals of vivianite,
which are commonly found around bodies in soils that contains iron.
An anecdote, unrelated to health and safety. In one forensic site,
containing an unidentified murdered body, an excavator thought that
the blue on a persons clothing showed that the person must have
brushed up against crumbling, blue coloured distemper on a painted
wall. Alas there was no such forensic clue. The blue was made up of a
dusting of tiny crystals of vivianite.
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: "HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY"
To:
Cc:
Sent:Tue, 16 Apr 2019 14:02:32 +0000
Subject:Re: Health and safety considerations for exhumations
Richard,
Well, the original citation was Borstel C.L. and Niquette C. Testing
Procedure for Historic Cemeteries. Cultural Resource Analysts, inc.;
Lexington, KY, USA: 2000 - which used to be relatively easy to find
online, but now all I can seem to locate are articles that use it as a
reference. It was taken from a paper that originally appeared in the
publication of ACRA (American Cultural Resources Association) in Issue
6-5 from the year 2000, but that issue is not available in their
archives, and that appears to have been taken from a paper presented
at the Archaeological Society of Virginia's annual meeting on October
3, 1998. The paper is available on Academia
https://www.academia.edu/10146132/Arsenic_and_Old_Graves_Testing_Procedures_at_Nineteenth-Century_Cemeteries
though it does not include a reference to arsenic presenting as blue
green crystals in historic burials.
The notation of arsenic presenting as vivid blue or blue-green
crystals does appear on page 40 of this Chicora Foundation report on
the excavation of a historic cemetery in South Carolina
http://www.chicora.org/pdfs/RS73%20-%20Son%20Cemetery%20compressed.pdf
but the reference in the report is to the ACRA paper, and no specific
examples are illustrated in the report.
We have no specific examples of arsenic presenting as blue-green
crystals from the historic period excavations conducted to date in
Kentucky, but we have not encountered high concentrations of arsenic
in any of the completed exhumations. In short, the reference appears
to come from a single source and currently appears to lack any field
verification that I can locate. If however, arsenic were present in
such concentrations in a historic period burial that it did appear as
a cluster of vivid crystals, we would be looking at a burial that
constituted a haz-mat site, which would create a very different set of
problems.
I do not see a good means to differentiate vivianite from possible
arsenic contamination in the field aside from testing the soils
beforehand. I would guess that, if testing shows no contamination of
soils by arsenic but blue-green crystals appear on skeletal remains,
you may have vivianite. If you do have contamination of soils from
arsenic and crystals appear, additional - and very careful - testing
of the material should be undertaken to determine its composition.
Fun stuff.
Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Richard Wright
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2019 5:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Health and safety considerations for exhumations
Daniel
I did not know that arsenic forms blue green crystals, but then I
have never worked in that sort of cultural environment for burials.
However, I have worked on numerous human and animal sites where the
mineral 'vivianite' (an iron phosphate) forms harmless bluish crystals
on bones and clothing.
https://www.academia.edu/6961746/The_significance_of_vivianite_in_archaeological_settings
[1]
Vivianite is odd. You can expose parts of a burial and notice nothing
on the surface of the bones. After you return to work from a coffee
break you see bones that are covered with bluish crystals. The
explanation is that vivianite is colorless when buried, but oxidizes
on exposure to light
Is there any literature on the blue green crystals of arsenic?
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: "HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY"
To:
Cc:
Sent:Mon, 15 Apr 2019 12:35:11 +0000
Subject:Re: Health and safety considerations for exhumations
I recommend testing the soils around historic graves prior to any
excavation to determine the presence of hazardous materials -
especially lead, arsenic, creosote, and mercury. Take samples away
from the interments to get an idea of background levels of these
materials, and follow OSHA guidelines with respect to the levels of
any of the materials that show up in your samples.
In most conditions - regular cemetery, wooden coffin, tropical to
subtropical environment - the risk of infectious or contagious disease
still being viable is pretty much non-existent. In some cases with
good preservation, say above the Arctic Circle, the possibility of
encountering viable contagions would increase significantly. Here in
Kentucky, however, arsenic is the thing that I worry about most. It
was used as an embalming agent for around 50 years, from around 1860
to 1910, with up to 12 pounds of arsenic used per interment. It
presents in burials as blue green crystals, but if you haven't
prepared for it by the time you see it, you're hosed.
Daniel B. Davis
Administrative Branch Manager, Cultural Resources Section Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet Division of Environmental Analysis
200 Mero Street
Frankfort, KY 40622
(502) 564-7250 or (502) 782-5013
KYTC Archaeology and KYTC Cultural Historic
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Adrian Myers
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2019 7:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Health and safety considerations for exhumations
Hi all,
Can anyone point me to any articles or research that explore the
issues around possible health and safety risks associated with
exhumation of historical graves, both in general (e.g.
lead/chemical/hazmat exposure, depth of excavations), but also
specifically in relation to the possibility that an interred
individual died of a communicable disease (e.g. Spanish Influenza).
i.e., are there risks of disease transmission from a historical
burial, and is there any research to back this up?
Since so far I have nothing on it, I will also accept your informed
anecdotes and opinions!
Thanks kindly
*Adrian Myers, PhD*
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Links:
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[1]
https://www.academia.edu/6961746/The_significance_of_vivianite_in_archaeological_settings
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