Evaluating microfossil content of dental calculus from Brazilian sambaquis

To date, limited numbers of dental calculus samples have been analyzed by researchers in diverse parts of the world. The combined analyses of these have provided some general guidelines for the analysis of calculus that is non-destructive to archaeological teeth. There is still a need for a quantitative study of large numbers of calculus samples to establish protocols, assess the level of contamination, evaluate the quantity of microfossils in dental calculus, and to compare analysis results with the literature concerning the biology of calculus formation. We analyzed dental calculus from 53 teeth from four Brazilian sambaquis. Sambaquis are the shell-mounds that were established prehistorically along the Brazilian coast. The analysis of sambaqui dental calculi shows that there are relatively high concentrations of microfossils (phytoliths and starch), mineral fragments, and charcoal in dental calculus. Mineral fragments and charcoal are possibly contaminants. The largest dental calculi have the lowest concentrations of microfossils. Biologically, this is explained by individual variation in calculus formation between people. Importantly, starch is ubiquitous in dental calculus. The starch and phytoliths show that certainly Dioscorea (yam) and Araucaria angustifolia (Parana pine) were eaten by sambaqui people. Araceae (arum family), Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato) and Zea mays (maize) were probably in their diet. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Relativistic Atomic Natural Orbital Basis Sets for Lanthanide Atoms with Applications to the Ce Diatom and LuF3

New basis sets of the atomic natural orbital (ANO) type have been developed for the lanthanide atoms La-Lu. The ANOs have been obtained from the average density matrix of the ground and lowest excited states of the atom, the positive ions, and the atom in an electric field. Scalar relativistic effects are included through the use of a Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian. Multiconfigurational wave functions have been used with dynamic correlation included using second-order perturbation theory (CASSCF/CASPT2). The basis sets are applied in calculations of ionization energies and some excitation energies. Computed ionization energies have an accuracy better than 0.1 eV in most cases. Two molecular applications are inluded as illustration: the cerium diatom and the LuF3 molecule. In both cases it is shown that 4f orbitals are not involved in the chemical bond in contrast to an earlier claim for the latter molecule.