New on-site method to evaluate the quantity and quality of collagen in archaeological faunal assemblages using a portable FTIR and ZooMS

Summary

Faunal remains play an important role in helping reconstruct Paleolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence and mobility strategies. However, differential bone preservation is an issue in southern European prehistoric sites, which often makes morphological identification impossible. Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) is a new, low-cost method that will improve NISP statistical significance in a replicable way by using diagnostic peptides of the dominant collagen protein as a fingerprint of animal (including hominin) species. It is also a powerful tool to assess collagen preservation for radiocarbon dating. We present a test of a method for evaluating collagen preservation in the field prior to ZooMS analysis. Using a portable Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) equipped with an attenuated total reflectance accessory, we evaluated the relative abundance of collagen and various components of the mineral fraction, in powdered bone fragments, as well as indicators of burning and fossilization. The bones were then analyzed by ZooMS and results compared to ascertain FTIR as a screening technique. This method was tested on assemblages from two Northwestern Italian sites: Riparo Bombrini and Arma Veirana. Both sites document the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition with overlapping dates from distinct environmental contexts (coastal and mountainous hinterland) differing greatly in collagen preservation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Rethinking Methods of Faunal Analysis   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14644