Brock, F., Wood, R., Higham, T. F G., Ditchfield, P., Bayliss, A. and Bronk-Ramsey, C. (2012). Reliability of Nitrogen content (%N) and Carbon:Nitrogen atomic ratios (C:N) as indicators of collagen preservation suitable for radiocarbon dating. Proceedings of the Sixth Radiocarbon and Archaeology Symposium, held in Paphos, Cyprus, 10'“15 April 2011.. Vol 54(3-4), pp. 879-886. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.v54i3'“4.16144.
 Title The title of the publication or report |
Reliability of Nitrogen content (%N) and Carbon:Nitrogen atomic ratios (C:N) as indicators of collagen preservation suitable for radiocarbon dating | ||||||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Proceedings of the Sixth Radiocarbon and Archaeology Symposium, held in Paphos, Cyprus, 10'“15 April 2011. | ||||||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Radiocarbon | ||||||
Volume Volume number and part |
54 (3-4) | ||||||
Number of Pages The number of pages in the publication or report |
809 | ||||||
Page Start/End The start and end page numbers. |
879 - 886 | ||||||
Biblio Note This is a Bibliographic record only. |
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Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
Journal | ||||||
Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
A recent study into prescreening techniques to identify bones suitable for radiocarbon dating from sites known for poor or variable preservation (Brock et al. 2007, 2010a) found that the percent nitrogen (%N) content of whole bone powder was the most reliable indicator of collagen preservation. Measurement of %N is rapid, requires little preparation or material, and is relatively cheap. The technique reduces the risk of needlessly sampling valuable archaeological objects, as well as saving time and money on their unsuccessful pretreatment prior to dating. This method of prescreening is now regularly used at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU). In the original study, linear regression analysis of data from 100 bones from 12 Holocene sites across southern England showed that when 0.76% N was chosen as a threshold, 84% of bones were successfully identified as containing sufficient (i.e. >1%) or insufficient (i.e. <1%) collagen for dating. However, it has been observed that for older, Pleistocene bones the failure rate may be higher, possibly due to the presence of more degraded, short-chain proteins that pass through the ultrafilters used in pretreatment, resulting in lower yields. Here, linear regression analysis of data from nearly 600 human and animal bones, antlers, and teeth, from a wide range of contexts and ages, is presented to determine whether the 0.76% threshold identified in the previous study is still applicable. The potential of carbon:nitrogen atomic weight ratios (C:N) of whole bone to predict collagen preservation is also discussed. | ||||||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2012 | ||||||
Locations Any locations covered by the publication or report. This is not the place the book or report was published. |
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Source Where the record has come from or which dataset it was orginally included in. |
BIAB
(biab_online)
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Relations Other resources which are relevant to this publication or report |
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
24 Feb 2013 |
