Chemical, elemental, and isotopic effects of acid concentration and treatment duration on ancient bone collagen: an exploratory study

Demineralization of bone for collagen extraction is most commonly performed using dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) despite the fact that little data exists on the effects of differing acid concentration or treatment time on the quantity and quality of collagen extracts and that hydrochloric acid is ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of archaeological science 2010-12, Vol.37 (12), p.3124-3128
Main Author: Pestle, William J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
America and Arctic regions
Collagen
Excavation and methods
Generalities
Laboratory methods
Methodology and general studies
Mexico and Central America
Paleodiet
Physical and chemical analysis
Prehistory and protohistory
Radiocarbon
Stable isotope
δ 13C
δ 15N
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Summary:Demineralization of bone for collagen extraction is most commonly performed using dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) despite the fact that little data exists on the effects of differing acid concentration or treatment time on the quantity and quality of collagen extracts and that hydrochloric acid is extremely effective at hydrolyzing peptide bonds. Data on yield, elemental composition, and isotopic signature from bone collagen obtained from multiple extractions performed on two large ancient human bone samples from prehistoric Puerto Rico indicate that there is no meaningful difference between acid treatments ranging from 0.05 to 0.2 M concentration and 24–120 h of treatment. As such, a shorter course of demineralization using more concentrated acid would appear to produce quality results in a shorter time.
ISSN:0305-4403
1095-9238
DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2010.07.013