I recently excavated the site of a bath house and other structures
dating from the first half of the nineteenth century in Sitka, Alaska.
The assemblage includes many organic items, including numerous human
hair samples (probably from haircuts and/or grooming).  Has anyone had
any experience in analyzing historic hair for nutrition, heavy metals,
etc?  The local population included Russians, Alaska Natives, and
Creoles.  I have done some forensic macro-analysis on hair specimens
(i.e., for race assessment, cut/pulled, consistency, etc.), but I'm not
familiar with the body of literature on more in-depth analyses.  Any
suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Dave McMahan