Twenty-three samples of the gypsum casings will be taken for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICPAES) to:
- identify the geological source of the mineral
- the distance from the source material and the place of burial
- the correlation to the social status of the individual
- any variations in the recipe used for the casings
Probable source areas can be matched to the casings. This will allow us to compare the Yorkshire gypsum casings to other white substances in burials (Schotsmans et al. 2014).