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Hartnell's time machine: 170-year-old nails reveal severe zinc deficiency played a greater role than lead in the demise of the Franklin Expedition
Jennie R. Christensen, Joyce M. McBeth, Nicole J. Sylvain et al., 2016. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 16, 430–440.
Synchrotron mapping of John Hartnell's thumbnail and toenail shows severe zinc deficiency, which would have weakened his immunity, and lead within the normal range until his last weeks, when starvation released stored lead into the blood.
What it's used for here
The zinc-deficiency counter to the lead theory.
Our copy
Research copy, for editors and curators. The work is the publisher's, so readers are sent to it. We keep this copy so the citation can be checked if the page changes or goes.
doi.org · fetched 27 Oct 2026
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The Franklin expedition (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror)
MYSThe mystery article
Cite it
Christensen, J. R., McBeth, J. M., Sylvain, N. J., Spence, J., & Chan, H. M. (2016). Hartnell's time machine: 170-year-old nails reveal severe zinc deficiency played a greater role than lead in the demise of the Franklin Expedition. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 16, 430–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.042
@article{christensen2016hartnell,
author = {Christensen, Jennie R. and McBeth, Joyce M. and Sylvain, Nicole J. and Spence, Jody and Chan, Hing Man},
title = {Hartnell's time machine: 170-year-old nails reveal severe zinc deficiency played a greater role than lead in the demise of the Franklin Expedition},
journal = {Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 16, 430–440},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.042},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.042}
}TY - JOUR TI - Hartnell's time machine: 170-year-old nails reveal severe zinc deficiency played a greater role than lead in the demise of the Franklin Expedition AU - Christensen, Jennie R. AU - McBeth, Joyce M. AU - Sylvain, Nicole J. AU - Spence, Jody AU - Chan, Hing Man PY - 2016 JO - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 16, 430–440 DO - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.042 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.042 ER -
Christensen, Jennie R. et al.. “Hartnell's time machine: 170-year-old nails reveal severe zinc deficiency played a greater role than lead in the demise of the Franklin Expedition.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 16, 430–440 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.042.