pXRF analysis of obsidian artifacts from Albania: Crossroads or cul-de-sac?

Archaeologists first identified obsidian artifacts in Albania in the early 20th century, but their numbers were small and the contexts insecure. Their source was never determined. Nor was it clear why, given the large numbers of obsidian artifacts recovered in regions to the south and north, in areas like central and southern Greece and Croatia, more obsidian artifacts were not found in Albania. In an attempt to address these problems in Albanian prehistoric archaeology, we analyzed eight obsidian artifacts from six sites – out of a total of only 16 known pieces from the entire country, many of which are now lost – using portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF). One of these, from the Putanja site, is from Lipari, Italy. The other seven are from Melos, Greece. All eight appear to date from the Middle/Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age (5500–1050/25 BCE). The absence of obsidian in Albania is not the result of poor archaeological sampling; several, recent intensive surface surveys and excavations in south and north Albania produced no obsidian. Rather, it may be that obsidian was not imported to prehistoric Albania due to the presence of abundant, accessible, very fine flint sources, located in particular in the southwest of the country. Consequently, the prehistoric inhabitants of Albanian were out of the loop or otherwise uninterested in obsidian during those periods of Mediterranean prehistory, specifically from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age, when it was traded most extensively. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

Recovery And Identification Of Mature Enamel Proteins In Ancient Teeth

Proteins in mineralized tissues provide a window to the past, and dental enamel is peculiar in being highly resistant to diagenesis and providing information on a very narrow window of time, such as the developing period; however, to date, complete proteins have not been extracted successfully from ancient teeth. In this work we tested the ability of a whole-crown micro-etch technique to obtain enamel protein samples from mature enamel of recently extracted (n=2) and ancient (n=2; ad 800 to 1100) third molars. Samples were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry, and the resulting spectra were searched against the Swiss-Prot protein database using the Mascot software for protein identification. In our protocol, the separation of proteins in gel is not necessary. Successful identification of specific enamel proteins was obtained after whole-crown superficial enamel etching with 10% HCl. Most protein fragments recovered from dry teeth and mummy teeth contained amino-terminal amelogenin peptides. Only one peptide specific for the amelogenin X-isoform was identified. In conclusion, the reported techniques allowed the successful recovery of proteins specific to dental enamel from samples obtained in a very conservative manner, which may also be important in forensic and/or archeological science. © 2011 Eur J Oral Sci.119SUPPL.18387Smith, C.E., Cellular and chemical events during enamel maturation (1998) Crit Rev Oral Biol Med, 9, pp. 128-161Nanci, A., (2008) Ten Cate's oral histology: development, structure, and function, , Saint Louis: MosbyAlberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K., Walter, P., (2005) Molecular biology of the cell, , New York: Garland ScienceDean, M.C., Tooth microstructure tracks the pace of human life-history evolution (2006) Proc Biol Sci, 273, pp. 2799-2808Smith, T.M., Hublin, J.J., Dental tissue studies: 2D and 3D insights into human evolution (Preface) (2008) J Hum Evol, 54, pp. 169-172Smith, T.M., Incremental dental development: methods and applications in hominoid evolutionary studies (2008) J Hum Evol, 54, pp. 205-224Schweitzer, M.H., Zheng, W., Organ, C.L., Avci, R., Suo, Z., Freimark, L.M., Lebleu, V.S., Asara, J.M., Biomolecular characterization and protein sequences of the Campanian hadrosaur B. canadensis (2009) Science, 324, pp. 626-631Schweitzer, M.H., Wittmeyer, J.L., Horner, J.R., Soft tissue and cellular preservation in vertebrate skeletal elements from the Cretaceous to the present (2007) Proc Royal Soc B, 274, pp. 183-197Collins, M.J., Gernaey, A.M., Nielsen-Marsh, C.M., Vermeer, C., Westbroek, P., Slow rates of degradation of osteocalcin: green light for fossil bone protein? (2000) Geology, 28, pp. 1139-1142Nielsen-Marsh, C.M., Ostrom, P.H., Ghandi, H., Shapiro, B., Cooper, A., Hauschka, P.V., Collins, M.J., Sequence preservation of osteocalcin protein and mitochondrial DNA in bison bones older than 55 ka (2002) Geology, 30, pp. 1099-1102Nielsen-Marsh, C.M., Richards, M.P., Hauschka, P.V., Thomas-Oates, J.E., Trinkaus, E., Pettitt, P.B., Karavanic, I., Collins, M.J., Osteocalcin protein sequence of Neanderthals and modern primates (2005) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 102, pp. 4409-4413Lee-Thorp, J.A., Van Der Merwe, N.J., Aspects of the chemistry of modern and fossil biological apatites (1991) J Arch Sci, 18, pp. 343-354Porto, I.M., Laurie, H.J., Sousa, F.B., Rosa, J.C., Gerlach, R.F., New techniques for the recovery of small amounts of mature enamel proteins (2011) J Arch Sci, 38, pp. 3596-3604Kosiba, S.B., Tykot, R.H., Carlsson, D., Stable isotopes as indicators of change in the food procurement and food preference of viking age and early Christian populations on Gotland (Sweden) (2007) J Anthropol Archaeol, 26, pp. 394-411Tykot, R.H., Isotope analyses and the histories of maize (2010) Histories of Maize in Mesoamerica, pp. 130-141. , STALLER JE, TYKOT RH, BENZ BF, eds. Multidisciplinary approaches. Amsterdam: Academy PressNielse-Marsh, C.M., Stegemann, C., Hoffmann, R., Smith, T., Feeney, R., Toussaint, M., Harvati, K., Richards, M.P., Extraction and sequencing of human and Neandethal mature enamel proteins using MALDI-TOF/TOF MS (2009) J Arch Sci, 36, pp. 1758-1763Porto, I.M., Merzel, J., De Sousa, F.B., Bachmann, L., Cury, J.A., Line, S.R., Gerlach, R.F., Enamel mineralization in the absence of maturation stage ameloblasts (2009) Arch Oral Biol, 54, pp. 313-321Fraser, R.A., Grün, R., Privat, K., Gagan, M.K., Stable-isotope microprofiling of wombat tooth enamel records seasonal changes in vegetation and environmental conditions in eastern Australia (2008) Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 269, pp. 66-77Bartlett, J.D., Simmer, J.P., Proteinases in developing dental enamel (1999) Crit Rev Oral Biol Med, 10, pp. 425-441Aoba, T., Fukae, M., Tanabe, T., Shimizu, M., Moreno, E.C., Selective adsorption of porcine-amelogenins onto hydroxyapatite and their inhibitory activity on hydroxyapatite growth in supersaturated solutions (1987) Calcif Tissue Int, 41, pp. 281-289Sponheimer, M., Lee-Thorp, J.A., Isotopic evidence for the diet of an early hominid, Australopithecus africanus (1999) Science, 283, pp. 368-370Lee-Thorp, J.A., Sponheimer, M., Luyt, J., Tracking changing environments using stable carbon isotopes in fossil tooth enamel: an example from the South African hominin sites (2007) J Human Evol, 53, pp. 595-601Lee-Thorp, J.A., Sponheimer, M., Contributions of Biogeochemistry to understanding hominin dietary ecology (2006) Am J Phys Anthropol, 131, pp. 131-148Smith, C.C., Morgan, M.E., Pilbeam, D., Isotopic ecology and dietary profiles of Liberian chimpanzees (2010) J Human Evol, 58, pp. 43-55Wright, L.E., Schwarcz, H.P., Correspondence between stable carbon, oxygen and nitrogen isotopes in human tooth enamel and dentine: infant diets at Kaminaljuyú (1999) J Arch Sci, 26, pp. 1159-1170Steinlechner, M., Berger, B., Niederstätter, H., Parson, W., Rare failures in the amelogenin sex test (2002) Int J Legal Med, 116, pp. 117-120Tykot, R.H., Stable isotopes and diet: you are what you eat (2004) Physics methods in archaeometry, pp. 433-444. , Martini M, Milazzo M, Piacentini M, eds. Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi". Amsterdam: IOS Pres

Stable Isotopes and Archaeology in Central Chile: Methodological Insights and Interpretative Problems for Dietary Reconstruction

This paper discusses the problems faced when making interpretations of human stable isotope values due to the various explanatory alternatives that arise when reading archaeological data. These interpretative issues are analysed and discussed using the isotopic results for approximately 100 human individuals from archaeological contexts spanning from 5000 BC to 1540 AD in central Chile, supported by data for more than 50 plant and animal samples to establish a local C3 and C4 baseline. A number of assumptions are frequently used to establish the bridge between isotopic results in human tissues and their corresponding diets. The problem is that different assumptions lead to different dietary reconstructions. Past feeding experiments on herbivores, pigs, rats and mice give different results, so we need to be cautious when applying these models to human isotope data. One specific problem concerns estimates of % C4 from collagen and apatite data, a very important issue when looking for evidence of maize in archaeological contexts, which was one of the major objectives we had in the isotopic analyses of archaeological specimens in central Chile. We conclude that the opportunity for estimating the actual percentage of C4 foods in human diets is limited, since a specific apatite fractionation value for humans cannot be experimentally determined, while maize consumption is underrepresented in bone collagen. This may be addressed in our study by sampling more specimens of wild gramineae to establish baseline plant values, more humans that could have had a low maize intake, and more Archaic period individuals when there was certainly no maize in the region