A Review of Current Approaches in the Pretreatment of Bone for Radiocarbon Dating by AMS

Hedges, R. E. M.; Klinken, G. J. Van

doi:10.1017/s0033822200063438

Cited by 156 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Sci. USA 91 (1994) 10477 (38). Analysis of the stable isotope composition of amino acid enantiomers in bone would provide a useful check on indigeneity of amino acid fractions and could also be used to develop and improve procedures for processing bones for radiocarbon dating as well as for stable isotope analysis for paleodietary reconstruction (9,10).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigeneity of organic matter in fossils: a test using stable isotope analysis of amino acid enantiomers in Quaternary mollusk shells.

Engel

Goodfriend

Qian

et al. 1994

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Comparison of the 813C values of D and L enantfomers of individual amino acids was used to evaluate the presence of amino acid contaminants in Quaternary land snals. Measurements of 813C values of amino acid D and L enantiomers determined by combined gas chromatography, combustion, isotope-ratio mass spectrometry are reported. Conventional combustion techniques, following separation of aspartic acid and glutamic acid enantiomers by liquid chromatography, were also used to determine 813C as well as 815N values. Thoroughly cleaned samples ranging in age from 7000 to >100,000 yr B.P. are shown to have analytically identical 813C values for the D and L enantiomers of each amino add, thus confirming that the amino acids are indigenous to the shells, even in Pleistocene samples. On the other hand, partially cleaned material shows divergence of isotopic values, thus indicating the presence of amino acid contaminants and emphasing the importance of proper cleaning procedures. This approach provides a powerful method for assessing the indigeneity of amino adds in fossils.A variety of types of studies depend on the assumption that the organic constituents of fossils are indigenous. These include amino acid racemization/epimerization dating of marine (1), terrestrial (2, 3), and freshwater (4) samples, paleotemperature estimation from amino acid racemization rates (5), analysis offree amino acid concentrations for dating (6), taxonomic studies (7,8), and reconstruction ofpaleodiets (9,10) and paleoclimates (11-13) from the stable isotope composition of organic matter.Indigeneity has previously been assessed by a variety of methods, no one of which has proved particularly reliable. Relative abundances of amino acids in fossils have been compared to modern samples ofrelated species (14, 15). Such comparisons, however, are problematic because even in uncontaminated material, the proportions of the various amino acids will change over time as a result of more rapid breakdown of the less stable ones, such as serine, threonine, and aspartic acid. Amounts of amino acids may decrease by several orders of magnitude over thousands to millions of years (3,(15)(16)(17). The extent of racemization of amino acids has also been used to assess indigeneity, with the criterion being that very old samples should show equilibrium ratios of D/L amino acid enantiomers if they are uncontaminated (18).But racemization rates may be very reduced in certain molecular components (19,20), especially where the amino acids have undergone condensation reactions with sugars (21). Microscopic examination has been used to show that the fossil matrix has been physically preserved (22,23), but microstructure is not sensitive to either chemical preservation or the presence of contaminants (23). The similarity of the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of bulk fossil organic matter to modern samples (24) and their dissimilarity to the sedimentary matrix (25) have also been used to indicate indigeneity of organic matter. As the amino acid comp...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigeneity of organic matter in fossils: a test using stable isotope analysis of amino acid enantiomers in Quaternary mollusk shells.

Engel

Goodfriend

Qian

et al. 1994

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Hedges and van Klinken (1992) have noted the importance of having both multiple approaches and multiple assessment strategies to deal with the range of preservation in the calcified tissue that arrives at l4 C laboratories. There are 2 major reasons for considering the use of gentle decalcifying agents, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in collagen preparation for 14 C dates.…”

Section: N Turossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Decalcification Methods, Radiocarbon Dates, and Stable Isotopes of the VIRI Bones

Tuross¹

2012

Radiocarbon

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ABSTRACT. The Fifth International Radiocarbon Comparison (VIRI) provided a suite of 5 bone samples with consensus ages ranging from 969 to 39,305 14 C yr BP (Scott et al. 2010). These bones were used herein in a comparison of decalcification methods using either HCl or EDTA to produce collagen, and the results demonstrate age concordance between both preparation methods and the VIRI consensus values. Additional isotopic analyses of the collagen (ô l3 C, δ 15 Ν, and δ 18 0) illustrate the increasing sensitivity of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes in assessing gelatin degradation.

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“…Particular attention has been paid to contamination issues (e.g. Gillespie and Hedges 1984;Hedges et al 1989;Hedges and van Klinken 1992; Hedges 1995, 1998) and quality control (e.g. van Klinken 1999;Bronk Ramsey et al 2004a;Brock et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Orau)

Brock

Higham²,

Ditchfield³

et al. 2010

Radiocarbon

759

582

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A Review of Current Approaches in the Pretreatment of Bone for Radiocarbon Dating by AMS

Cited by 156 publications

References 34 publications

Indigeneity of organic matter in fossils: a test using stable isotope analysis of amino acid enantiomers in Quaternary mollusk shells.

Indigeneity of organic matter in fossils: a test using stable isotope analysis of amino acid enantiomers in Quaternary mollusk shells.

Comparative Decalcification Methods, Radiocarbon Dates, and Stable Isotopes of the VIRI Bones

Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Orau)

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