Collagen Fingerprinting: A New Screening Technique for Radiocarbon Dating Ancient Bone.
Collagen Fingerprinting: A New Screening Technique for Radiocarbon Dating Ancient Bone.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0150650
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Buckley M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Harvey VL;Egerton VM;Chamberlain AT;Manning PL;Buckley M
胶原蛋白是骨的主要有机成分，并且紧密地锁定在这种普遍存在的生物材料的羟基磷灰石结构内，该生物材料主导考古学和古生物学组合。提取胶原蛋白的放射性碳分析是对晚更新世或全新世沉积物中的骨骼进行测年的最常见方法之一，但与其他生物化学技术相比，测年相对昂贵。为了筛选出不太可能产生可靠数据的样品，以前已经研究了许多分析方法，包括组织学分析，UV激发荧光，最常见的是测量氮百分比（%N）和碳氮比（C：N）。在这里，我们建议使用胶原蛋白指纹（也称为质谱动物考古学，或ZooMS，当应用于物种鉴定）作为放射性碳测年的替代筛选方法，由于其能够提供胶原蛋白存在和质量的信息，以及物种鉴定。该方法进行了测试的一系列亚化石骨骼标本从洞穴系统开曼布拉克（开曼群岛），选择由于成岩蚀变的可观察范围，特别是矿化的程度。在18次初步尝试中，从开曼布拉克岛五个不同洞穴中发现的已灭绝的hutia，Capromys sp.（啮齿目; Capromyidae）的遗骸中获得了6个14 C年龄，范围为距今393 ± 25至1588 ± 26年。所有产生放射性碳年代测定的骨骼样本都产生了极好的胶原蛋白指纹，相反，那些指纹不好的骨骼样本也没有通过年代测定。此外，从一组81个骨样本中筛选出两个成功指纹识别的骨样本。随后生成的14 C日期，证明成功利用ZooMS作为一种替代筛选机制，以确定适合14 C分析的骨样本。
Collagen is the dominant organic component of bone and is intimately locked within the hydroxyapatite structure of this ubiquitous biomaterial that dominates archaeological and palaeontological assemblages. Radiocarbon analysis of extracted collagen is one of the most common approaches to dating bone from late Pleistocene or Holocene deposits, but dating is relatively expensive compared to other biochemical techniques. Numerous analytical methods have previously been investigated for the purpose of screening out samples that are unlikely to yield reliable dates including histological analysis, UV-stimulated fluorescence and, most commonly, the measurement of percentage nitrogen (%N) and ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N). Here we propose the use of collagen fingerprinting (also known as Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, or ZooMS, when applied to species identification) as an alternative screening method for radiocarbon dating, due to its ability to provide information on collagen presence and quality, alongside species identification. The method was tested on a series of sub-fossil bone specimens from cave systems on Cayman Brac (Cayman Islands), chosen due to the observable range in diagenetic alteration, and in particular, the extent of mineralisation. Six 14C dates, of 18 initial attempts, were obtained from remains of extinct hutia, Capromys sp. (Rodentia; Capromyidae), recovered from five distinct caves on Cayman Brac, and ranging from 393 ± 25 to 1588 ± 26 radiocarbon years before present (yr BP). All of the bone samples that yielded radiocarbon dates generated excellent collagen fingerprints, and conversely those that gave poor fingerprints also failed dating. Additionally, two successfully fingerprinted bone samples were screened out from a set of 81. Both subsequently generated 14C dates, demonstrating successful utilisation of ZooMS as an alternative screening mechanism to identify bone samples that are suitable for 14C analysis.