A preliminary investigation of the application of differential scanning calorimetry to the study of collagen degradation in archaeological bone

The survival of organic matter in bone: a review

“…We have argued that despite variation in collagen yields between bones of the same thermal age, the integrity of surviving collagen will be the same (Collins et al 1995;Nielsen-Marsh et al 2000). The enzyme exclusion hypothesis argues that reduction of collagen content by microbial deterioration is due to localized mineral dissolution.…”

“…Collins et al (1995) suggested that the collagen in bone is protected by the physical exclusion of microbial extracellular enzymes (see also Mayer 1994;Nielsen-Marsh et al 2000). Despite the fact that the precise relationship between bone collagen and mineral is still debated (Glimcher 1990;Lee and Glimcher 1991;Traub et al 1992;Landis 1996;Prostak and Lees 1996;Fratzl et al 1996;Weiner and Wagner 1998;Weiner et al 1999), the association does appear to be sufficiently intimate to preclude penetration by extracellular enzymes (see Lees 1989).…”

Determining ‘age at death’ for forensic purposes using human bone by a laboratory-based biomechanical analytical method

“…It is a standard chemical technique used to characterise compounds that exhibit thermal transitions. DSC has successfully been used to investigate the heat-induced degradation of collagen [25], which is also known to vary with age of the individual. The samples under investigation were initially thinned down manually using grinding paper, under continuous irrigation, to approximately 1.5 mm in height, and left to dry for 5 days.…”

Three-dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of fossils across taxa

“…Abelson, 1954;Florkin, 1965;Westbroek et al, 1979;Eglinton and Logan, 1991;Engel et al, 1994;Schweitzer et al, 2007), which opened the door for palaeobiochemical investigations (Blumer, 1965;Albrecht and Ourisson, 1971;Niklas and Gensel, 1976;Weiner et al, 1976;Westbroek et al,26 D. Mietchen et al: Fossil MRI Saelen, 1989;Schweitzer et al, 2005;Dunca et al, 2008;Pruvost et al, 2007;Asara et al, 2007). While a number of techniques exist that can non-destructively image the surface of a specimen (see, e.g., Saelen, 1989;Scott and Collinson, 2003), serial grinding techniques combined with digital photography have long been the only method allowing to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of fossils at a high spatial resolution (Luo and Eastman, 1995;Luo and Marsh, 1996;Sutton et al, 2001;Siveter et al, 2004;Sutton et al, 2005), yet they trade this achievement for a complete loss of the specimen.…”