MICROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION FOR CONDITION ASSESSMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL BONES FROM DIFFERENT SITES IN EGYPT

Bones are found in different archaeological sites in Egypt. The bones samples examined in this study were collected from eight archaeological sites and two museum store houses. The samples were collected from different environments (dry and moist). Collected samples suffer from adverse deterioration, which was mainly due to burial environments. Many aspects of deterioration are found on the surface of the bones such as darkness, stains which may be derived from different sources, pitting etc. This study focuses on the changes that occur on the surface of bones in burial environments and in museum storehouses. Digital, optical, polarized and scanning electron microscopes were used to evaluate studied samples. (The results revealed that most environmental conditions in most locations let to many aspects of deterioration) such as pitting, erosion, change of color and etc. Humid environmental are more aggressive on the studied bone samples than dry conditions.