POSTMORTEM PRESERVATION AND ALTERATION OF INVIVO BONE-COLLAGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS IN RELATION TO PALEODIETARY RECONSTRUCTION
POSTMORTEM PRESERVATION AND ALTERATION OF INVIVO BONE-COLLAGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS IN RELATION TO PALEODIETARY RECONSTRUCTION
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DOI：
10.1038/317806a0
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发表时间：
1985-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
DENIRO, MJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
DENIRO, MJ
自 19771 年推出以来，骨胶原稳定同位素分析已广泛用于重建史前人类和动物饮食的各个方面2-11。这种饮食分析方法基于两个公认的观察结果和一个从未经过测试的假设。第一个观察结果是骨胶原 13C/12C 和 15N/14N 比率反映了动物饮食的相应同位素比率1-5,12。第二个是食物组具有不同的 13 C/12 C 和/或 15 N/14 N 比率13,14。综合起来，这两项观察结果表明，活体动物骨骼中胶原蛋白的同位素比率反映了动物所吃的这些食物的数量。因此，可以使用新鲜骨胶原13C/12C比率来确定C3和C4植物的相对消耗量15-17，而13C/12C和15N/14N比率已用于区分海洋和陆地食品的使用14。新鲜骨胶原的 15N/14N 比率可能也反映了豆科和非豆科植物作为食物的使用5，但这尚未得到证实。这些相同食物组的史前消费已根据从骨骼化石中提取的胶原蛋白的同位素比率重建1-11。同位素方法在史前材料应用中隐含的假设是骨胶原同位素比率没有因尸检过程而改变。在这里，我首次检验了这一假设的有效性。结果表明，死后骨胶原同位素比率确实发生了变化，但有可能识别出胶原蛋白未发生这种变化的史前骨骼。
Since its introduction in 19771, stable isotope analysis of bone collagen has been widely used to reconstruct aspects of prehistoric human and animal diets2–11. This method of dietary analysis is based on two well-established observations, and on an assumption that has never been tested. The first observation is that bone collagen13C/12C and15N/14N ratios reflect the corresponding isotope ratio of an animal's diet1–5,12. The second is that groups of foods have characteristically different13C/12C and/or15N/14N ratios13,14. Taken together, the two observations indicate that the isotope ratios of collagen in the bones of a living animal reflect the amounts of these groups of foods that the animal ate. Thus, it has been possible to use fresh bone collagen13C/12C ratios to determine the relative consumption of C3and C4plants15–17, while13C/12C and15N/14N ratios have been used to distinguish between the use of marine and terrestrial foods14. The15N/14N ratios of fresh bone collagen probably also reflect the use of leguminous and non-leguminous plants as food5, but this has not yet been demonstrated. Prehistoric consumption of these same groups of foods has been reconstructed from isotope ratios of collagen extracted from fossil bone1–11. Implicit in the application of the isotopic method to prehistoric material is the assumption that bone collagen isotope ratios have not been modified by postmortem processes. Here I present the first examination of the validity of this assumption. The results show that postmortem alteration of bone collagen isotope ratios does occur, but that it is possible to identify prehistoric bones whose collagen has not undergone such alteration.