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Collagen Extraction and Stable Isotope Analysis of Small Vertebrate Bones: A Comparative Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2016

S Cersoy ,
A Zazzo ,
M Lebon ,
J Rofes  and
S Zirah
S Cersoy*
Affiliation:
Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements (AASPE, UMR 7209), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, CP55 ou 56, 55 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France
A Zazzo
Affiliation:
Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements (AASPE, UMR 7209), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, CP55 ou 56, 55 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France
M Lebon
Affiliation:
Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Université Perpignan Via Domitia, 17 Place du Trocadéro, F-75116 Paris, France
J Rofes
Affiliation:
Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements (AASPE, UMR 7209), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, CP55 ou 56, 55 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France
S Zirah
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Molécules de Communication et Adaptation des Microorganismes (MCAM, UMR 7245), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, CP 54, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75005 Paris, France
*
*Corresponding author. Email: sophie.cersoy@mnhn.fr.
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Abstract

Bone remains of small vertebrate fossils provide valuable information for paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions. However, direct radiocarbon dating of small vertebrates remains challenging as the extraction of sufficient good quality collagen is required. The efficiency of eight collagen extraction protocols was tested on seven samples, representative of different ages and burial environments, including both macro and small vertebrate taxa. First, the samples were prescreened using attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) to quantify collagen content in archaeological bones, revealing that one should be discarded for 14C dating. Then, the quantity of protein extracted (yield) and collagen integrity were checked using conventional elemental analysis. The results show that one protocol was not able to accurately extract collagen from the samples. A soft HCl-based protocol seems more appropriate for the pretreatment of archaeological small mammal bones, whereas a harsher protocol might be more efficient to extract a higher amount of collagen from large mammals as well as amphibian bones. The influence of the tested protocols on carbon and nitrogen isotope values was also investigated. The results showed that isotopic variability, when existing, is related to the interindividual differences rather than the different protocols.

Keywords

bonecollagen preservationATR-FTIRisotopic analysissmall vertebratesarchaeozoology
Type
Chemical Pretreatment Approaches
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 3: Proceedings of the 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2) , June 2017 , pp. 679 - 694
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015

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