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Elemental Analysis of Alkalis and Dental Deposits Associated with Coca Chewing in Ecuador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Douglas H. Ubelaker  and
Karen E. Stothert
Douglas H. Ubelaker
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology; Smithsonian Institution; National Museum of Natural History; Washington, D.C. 20560-0112 (ubelaked@si.edu)
Karen E. Stothert
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249
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Abstract

The relationship between Andean coca use and dental deposits is explored through the use of scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). Elemental analyses of samples of large dental deposits from archeologically recovered skeletons from Ecuador dating between 500 B.C. and A.D. 1532 are compared with those of normal calculus deposits of individuals from North America (modern and precontact), of normal tooth structure and of samples of alkali recovered from Ecuadorian artifacts thought to have been employed in coca use. Spectral analysis revealed homogeneity among all dental samples (deposits and structure) and that they are distinct from the elemental pattern revealed in the analysis of the artifact alkalis.

La relación entre el uso de la coca en los andes se explora a través de la utilización del microscopio electrónico de barrido/energía dispersiva de rayos equis (SEM/EDS). El análisis de los elementos de las muestras de depósitos dentales grandes que provienen de los esqueletos arqueológicos de Ecuador son comparados con los depósitos normales de cálculos de individuos de Norte América que tienen estructuras dentales normales (modernos y de pre-contacto) con muestras de álcali recuperadas de artefactos ecuatorianos que se relacionan con el uso de la coca. El análisis químico revela homogeneidad entre todas las muestras dentales (depósitos y estructuras) y son distintos de los patrones que se observan en el análisis de los artefactos álcalis.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , March 2006 , pp. 77 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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