I read that RAMAN is not suitable to detect metals beacause it is "Raman silent". I'm confused about this statement and would like to know more about it and if it would be possible to measure the ammount of strontium in tooth for osteological and archaeological paleomobility research.
You have most likely come across the fact that metals crystallize in very simple lattices, namely with only one atom per unit cell. In bulk such a crystal has no degrees of freedom left for vibrations and hence is not Raman active.
But if Sr is spread homogeneously in the tooth it will create bonds with surrounding material (Ca, phosphate..) which most likely will be Raman active. The question is, whether abundance of Sr is high enough for its vibrations to be resolvable atop the tooth background. If yes, the isotope effect is very well visible in Raman - take a look at CCl4 (carbon tetrachloride).
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