Diagenesis and survival of osteocalcin in archaeological bone

C.I. Smith; O E  Craig; R V  Prigodich; C M  Nielsen-Marsh; M M E  Jans; C  Vermeer; M J  Collins

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003

Diagenesis and survival of osteocalcin in archaeological bone

C.I. Smith, O E Craig, R V Prigodich, C M Nielsen-Marsh, M M E Jans, C Vermeer, M J Collins

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that the protein osteocalcin can survive in bone in the archaeological record, and postulated that it has the potential to survive over geological time periods. The precise mechanism for this longevity of survival is not yet fully understood, and has not been extensively studied in comparison to other diagenctic aspects of archaeological bone. We report a comparison between osteocalcin survival and the state of preservation of more than 60 bones from 14 archaeological sites. The amount of osteocalcin, assayed immunologically, was compared with diagenetic parameters that measure: the amount of 'collagen' in the bone, the mineral changes, the porosity, and the histological preservation of the material. The findings indicate that microbial taphonomy and mineral alteration of bone have a profoundly damaging effect on the preservation of osteocalcin. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	105-113
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of archaeological science
Volume	32
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003
Publication status	Published - Jan 2005

Bibliographical note

Keywords

osteocalcin
archaeological bone
bone diagenesis
ELISA
histological index
infrared splitting factor
collagen

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003

Cite this

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title = "Diagenesis and survival of osteocalcin in archaeological bone",

abstract = "It has been demonstrated that the protein osteocalcin can survive in bone in the archaeological record, and postulated that it has the potential to survive over geological time periods. The precise mechanism for this longevity of survival is not yet fully understood, and has not been extensively studied in comparison to other diagenctic aspects of archaeological bone. We report a comparison between osteocalcin survival and the state of preservation of more than 60 bones from 14 archaeological sites. The amount of osteocalcin, assayed immunologically, was compared with diagenetic parameters that measure: the amount of 'collagen' in the bone, the mineral changes, the porosity, and the histological preservation of the material. The findings indicate that microbial taphonomy and mineral alteration of bone have a profoundly damaging effect on the preservation of osteocalcin. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",

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author = "C.I. Smith and Craig, {O E} and Prigodich, {R V} and Nielsen-Marsh, {C M} and Jans, {M M E} and C Vermeer and Collins, {M J}",

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T1 - Diagenesis and survival of osteocalcin in archaeological bone

AU - Smith, C.I.

AU - Craig, O E

AU - Prigodich, R V

AU - Nielsen-Marsh, C M

AU - Jans, M M E

AU - Vermeer, C

AU - Collins, M J

PY - 2005/1

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AB - It has been demonstrated that the protein osteocalcin can survive in bone in the archaeological record, and postulated that it has the potential to survive over geological time periods. The precise mechanism for this longevity of survival is not yet fully understood, and has not been extensively studied in comparison to other diagenctic aspects of archaeological bone. We report a comparison between osteocalcin survival and the state of preservation of more than 60 bones from 14 archaeological sites. The amount of osteocalcin, assayed immunologically, was compared with diagenetic parameters that measure: the amount of 'collagen' in the bone, the mineral changes, the porosity, and the histological preservation of the material. The findings indicate that microbial taphonomy and mineral alteration of bone have a profoundly damaging effect on the preservation of osteocalcin. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

KW - osteocalcin

KW - archaeological bone

KW - bone diagenesis

KW - ELISA

KW - histological index

KW - infrared splitting factor

KW - collagen

U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003

DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003

M3 - Article

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VL - 32

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EP - 113

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JF - Journal of archaeological science

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