Insights into Faunal Identification and Collagen Preservation Using ZooMS at Otočac-Stari Grad and Piplica from Prehistoric Croatia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The transition from the Copper to the Bronze and Iron Ages is shown through changing sociopolitical and economic organization reflected in faunal material. With ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry), fragments unidentifiable through morphological analysis can be identified through chemical analysis. ZooMS was applied to 34 samples collected from Otočac-Stari Grad (n=27), a Copper Age site with poor preservation, and Piplica (n=7), a Bronze-Iron Age site with good preservation in Croatia. The aim is to compare the level of identification possible through ZooMS given differing levels of preservation. From the 34 samples, 31 produced identifiable spectra (91.2%) and the level of identification improved in 25 samples. Samples from Otočac-Stari Grad had a higher fail rate and lower level of ZooMS identification compared to Piplica. Due to preservation of the material, the C, E , G, and G' peptides were missing from most spectra. While identification can be made without these peptides, the C and G peptides are important for differentiation between goat (Capra), sheep (Ovis), and deer (Cervidae). The B, P2, and D peptides were the most abundant and resistant to weathering. Future research will integrate ZooMS into larger faunal studies to supplement morphological analysis of animal husbandry.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53597