Bone Collagen Preservation at the Roonka Flat Aboriginal Burial Ground
A Natural Laboratory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11073853 |
|---|---|
| Authors | F Donald Pate (0000-0002-0238-0217, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 203-217 |
| Publication date | 1998-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Field Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0093-4690 • E-ISSN: 2042-4582 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1179/009346998792005531 |
| OpenAlex | W2123093359 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 41 |
A collagen extraction procedure was performed on cortical bone samples from 86 prehistoric human interments excavated from a sand dune at the Roonka Flat archaeological site near Blanchetown, South Australia. The interments date from the Early Holocene to the period of European contact, ca. A.C. 1840. Carbon and nitrogen concentrations in extracts were used to assess collagen preservation. Over 83% (15/18) of the Early Holocene sample and 34% (23/68) of the Late Holocene sample were regarded as poorly preserved on the basis of low carbon and/or nitrogen concentrations (C 13% and N>4.8%) and the other 33% (16/48) was included in an intermediate preservation category. A comparison of the good, intermediate, and poor preservation categories shows a stepwise trend toward higher atomic C/N ratios and more positive δl3C values as samples become less well preserved. In general, carbon and nitrogen concentrations in extracts are lower and C/N ratios are higher in the Early Holocene versus Late Holocene sample, whereas stable carbon isotope values do not vary with duration of burial. Because extract C/N ratios, δl3C values, and yields are extremely variable, as independent criteria they are not useful in identifying degrees of bone collagen preservation. The determination of carbon and nitrogen concentrations in acid insoluble extracts provides an initial screening procedure to select bone samples for radiocarbon or stable isotope analysis
Archaeology · Carbon fibers · Geography · Holocene · Isotope analysis · Isotopes of carbon · Isotopes of nitrogen · Mineralogy · Nitrogen · Radiocarbon dating · Stable isotope ratio · Total organic carbon · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Chemistry · Environmental Chemistry · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Geology · Materials Science · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Baseline bioavailable strontium and oxygen isotope mapping of the Adelaide Region, South Australia
Macropods and measurables
Integrating Stable Isotope and Zooarchaeological Analyses in Historical Archaeology
Bone collagen diagenesis at Roonka Flat, South Australia
Dietary Variability among a Sample of United States Soldiers during the War of 1812
Bone chemistry and palaeodiet
Bone collagen stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes as indicators of past human diet and landscape use in southeastern South Australia
Stable Carbon and Nitrogen isotope evidence for prehistoric hunter‐gatherer diet in the lower Murray River basin, South Australia
A preliminary redating of the Holocene Roonka burials, south‐eastern Australia
Destruction of microstructure in archaeological bone
Late Quaternary Palaeoecology of Wyrie Swamp, Southeastern South Australia
Detection of bone preservation in archaeological and fossil samples
Effects of diagenesis on strontium, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen concentration and isotopic composition of bone
Radiocarbon, 13C and 15N analysis of fossil bone
Chemical, enzymatic and spectroscopic characterization of “collagen” and other organic fractions from prehistoric bones
Variability in the preservation of the isotopic composition of collagen from fossil bone
Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction
Stable Carbon Isotopes and Prehistoric Diets in the South-Western Cape Province, South Africa
Processing of prehistoric bones for isotopic analysis and the meaning of collagen C/N ratios in the assessment of diagenetic effects
Collagen Extraction from Recent and Fossil Bones
States of preservation of bones from prehistoric sites in the Near East
Stable carbon isotope assessment of hunter—Gatherermobility in prehistoric South Australia
Trophic Structure and Climatic Information From Isotopic Signatures in Pleistocene Cave Fauna of Southern England
The use of soil chemistry data to address post-mortem diagenesis in bone mineral
The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in Portugal
Experiments on Collagen-Humic Interactions
Preparation and characterization of bone and tooth collagen for isotopic analysis
Effect of diet, physiology and climate on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of collagen in a late pleistocene anthropic palaeoecosystem
Diagenesis of Bones from Eland's Bay Cave
Bone chemistry and paleodiet
Stable isotope analyses in human nutritional ecology
Bone stable isotope studies in archaeology
Alterations of in vivo elemental dietary signatures in archaeological bone
Sea Levels and Sediments
Handbuch der Klimatologie
Riverine, biological and cultural evolution in southeastern Australia
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.34 |
| Citation span | 1997 - 2020 (24) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |