Pregnancy Hormones Found in Human Skeletal Remains

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND—Phys.org reports that Aimée Barlow of the University of Sheffield and her colleagues have identified pregnancy hormones in human skeletal remains. The researchers tested the remains of seven women and three men who lived in Britain between the first and nineteenth centuries A.D. In utero fetal remains had been recovered in the burials of two of the women. Another two had been interred in mother-child burials with fetal remains. One woman was known to have been pregnant during her lifetime, while the birth histories of the final two were unknown. Samples of the bones; tooth dentin, enamel, and roots; and dental calculus of all 10 people were then tested for estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone with ELISA, or Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, a lab technique that can detect antibodies, antigens, proteins, and hormones in tissue samples. Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone were detected in bone, enamel, and dentine. Progesterone and testosterone were detected in dental calculus. The testing also revealed elevated levels of progesterone and no testosterone in one of the pregnant women’s remains. Elevated levels of progesterone were also found in the dental calculus of the women in the mother-child burials. This technique could help archaeologists identify pregnancy at the time of death in past populations, the scientists concluded. To read about analysis of a Roman-era skeleton uncovered in Cambridgeshire, England, go to "Ancient DNA Revolution: A Stranger in a Strange Land."