Events of Russian history of the Late Middle Ages in the light of neutron activation analysis data

Tatiana D. Panova, Andrey Yu. Dmitriev, Olesia E. Chepurchenko, Veronica S. Smirnova, Yulia G. Filina, Svetlana O. Dmitrieva

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2020, 31.2, 281-290; doi: 10.19282/ac.31.2.2020.26

Abstract

The qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of the unique remains of the Russian nobility of the Middle Ages was carried out in the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna, Russia). Neutron activation method was used for experiment. In the course of the research, bones, organics from the skull and hair of seven Russian historical figures who died in the 15th-early 17th centuries were studied. The mass fractions of several elements, including arsenic and mercury (part of the most common medieval poisons) were found in these samples. The comparison of the obtained results with data from similar Russian and European studies made it possible to make assumptions about the probability of the deliberate poisoning of some representatives of the higher Russian nobility. It also gave an opportunity to replenish the elemental composition database of the human remains of that period.

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