A microscopic view of ancient bones: Archaeometry and taphonomy of human remains from Al-Khiday (Central Sudan)

The puzzling and challenging pre-Mesolithic human remains found at the al-Khiday site, Sudan, can not be dated directly by radiocarbon techniques or other means because of the extensive diagenetic processes that changed the microstructure of the bones and completely deprived the samples of organic matter. Here the micro- structural and micro-chemical investigations performed on these remains are reviewed. The results are combined with macroscopic evidence such as stratigraphic relationships, available radiocarbon dates of soil carbonates, and the regional palaeo-climatic frame in order to indirectly assign a Late Pleistocene age to this important group of humans. The al-Khiday case study is deemed to be an important and successful example of application of modern archaeometric techniques at the microscopic level.