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The technology that scientists used to try to identify Mozart's skull could be used in repatriating toi moko - mummified heads - to their home regions if Waikato University research succeeds.
Chemist Dr Merilyn Manley-Harris will work with art historian Dr Ngahuia Te Awekotuku on a project this summer which will see teeth investigated using laser ablation technology.
Both Waikato academics worked on Dr Te Awekotuku's book Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo for which Dr Manley-Harris did charcoal analysis.
It was when they were picking up historical samples from a museum that Dr Te Awekotuku explained part of the problem of repatriation, Dr Manley-Harris said.
"She told me that after the preserved heads had been repatriated [from overseas museums] finding out where in the country they came from was a problem.
"I had read an article about this [technology] being used in Salzburg to see if they could identify Mozart's skull. I thought we might be able to use the same skills."
Laser ablation identifies what inorganic ions - such as magnesium, calcium and strontium - are present in substances.
"A laser is fired at a tiny part of the tooth. Tooth enamel apparently is laid down in early childhood. It might be possible to use [the technology] because in those days people would have eaten food that was grown locally. Whatever the mineralogy of the soil, it would have been reflected in the teeth."
While the method could not be used on modern teeth because much of our food is imported from other regions, it can be used on possums because they have a limited range. So possums will be the subjects for a 10-week, $4000 project to test the theory.
