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Application of analytical chemistry in anthropology

Possibilities of application of analytical chemistry in anthropological research will be discussed. Analytical chemistry is a study of the chemical composition of natural and artificial materials. As such, it takes advantage of the vast array of instrumental methods of chemical analysis (organic, inorganic, as well as isotope analysis) to provide additional information to enrich anthropological knowledge on a variety of subjects – for example, nutritional and other habits, environmental exposure to various chemical compounds or elements, analysis of disease and skeletal trauma on archeological skeletal remains, population studies, proteomic and metabolomics analyses etc. One recent and simple example of such a possibility is an international multicentric study on fish intake in pregnancy and child growth, which proved that high maternal fish intake during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of rapid growth in infancy and childhood obesity. Knowing that fish is considered an integral part of a healthy Mediterranean diet, such results would be considered surprising from “classical” anthropological point of view. However, engaging analytical chemistry, contamination by environmental pollutants in fish was offered as an explanation for the observed association, because in humans, fish consumption is one of the major sources of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such is mercury.

analytical chemistry, anthropology, interdisciplinary approach

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