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

^*Corresponding author for this work

49 Citations (Scopus)

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 diagenetic 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.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume	32
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	105-113
Number of pages	9
ISSN	0305-4403
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003
Publication status	Published - Jan 2005

Keywords

Archaeological bone
Bone diagenesis
Collagen
ELISA
Histological index
Infrared splitting factor
Osteocalcin

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10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003

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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 diagenetic 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.",

keywords = "Archaeological bone, Bone diagenesis, Collagen, ELISA, Histological index, Infrared splitting factor, Osteocalcin",

author = "Smith, {C. I.} 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

Y1 - 2005/1

N2 - 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 diagenetic 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.

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 diagenetic 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.

KW - Archaeological bone

KW - Bone diagenesis

KW - Collagen

KW - ELISA

KW - Histological index

KW - Infrared splitting factor

KW - Osteocalcin

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DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2004.07.003

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:10244278021

SN - 0305-4403

VL - 32

SP - 105

EP - 113

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

IS - 1

ER -

Diagenesis and survival of osteocalcin in archaeological bone

Abstract

Keywords

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