Variations in glutamine deamidation for a Châtelperronian bone assemblage as measured by peptide mass fingerprinting of collagen

TY - JOUR

T1 - Variations in glutamine deamidation for a Châtelperronian bone assemblage as measured by peptide mass fingerprinting of collagen

AU - Welker, Frido

AU - Soressi, Marie A.

AU - Roussel, Morgan

AU - van Riemsdijk, Isolde

AU - Hublin, Jean-Jacques

AU - Collins, Matthew James

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - Peptide mass fingerprinting of bone collagen (ZooMS) has previously been proposed as a method to calculate the extent of the non-enzymatic degradation of glutamine into glutamic acid (deamidation). Temporal and spatial variation of glutamine deamidation at a single site, however, has not been investigated. Here we apply ZooMS screening of Châtelperronian and Early Holocene bone specimens from Quinçay, France, to explore temporal and spatial variation in glutamine deamidation. Our results indicate that chronological resolution is low, while spatial variation is high. Nevertheless, our analysis allows the identification of bone specimens that have undergone diagenetic histories remarkably different (either in length or in type) from spatially related bone specimens. Therefore, ZooMS ammonium-bicarbonate screening is capable of testing bone assemblage homogeneity, which could guide subsequent analysis and interpretation.

AB - Peptide mass fingerprinting of bone collagen (ZooMS) has previously been proposed as a method to calculate the extent of the non-enzymatic degradation of glutamine into glutamic acid (deamidation). Temporal and spatial variation of glutamine deamidation at a single site, however, has not been investigated. Here we apply ZooMS screening of Châtelperronian and Early Holocene bone specimens from Quinçay, France, to explore temporal and spatial variation in glutamine deamidation. Our results indicate that chronological resolution is low, while spatial variation is high. Nevertheless, our analysis allows the identification of bone specimens that have undergone diagenetic histories remarkably different (either in length or in type) from spatially related bone specimens. Therefore, ZooMS ammonium-bicarbonate screening is capable of testing bone assemblage homogeneity, which could guide subsequent analysis and interpretation.

U2 - 10.1080/20548923.2016.1258825

DO - 10.1080/20548923.2016.1258825

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2054-8923

VL - 3

SP - 15

EP - 27

JO - Science and Technology of Archaeological Research

JF - Science and Technology of Archaeological Research

IS - 1

ER -