Towards the application of desorption electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) to the analysis of ancient proteins from artefacts

The detection and identification of protein residues from archaeological artefacts has been the subject of considerable controversy over the past two decades, this controversy spurring the application of a range of different analytical methods. Part of the debate surrounds the ability of the methods to uniquely identify original proteins. Another is the apparent contradiction between the ease of extraction in the laboratory of residues that have managed to survive in sediment over millennia; some studies use simple solvents including water, whilst others claim that efficient extraction requires the destruction of the artefact.Desorption electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) offers the potential to directly analyse proteins bound to the surface of artefacts. The method permits desorption of analytes under ambient conditions directly from a wide range of surfaces with little or no sample preparation. This has already led to its application in a range of areas, including forensic analysis of trace levels of narcotic drugs. It does not require destruction of the artefact (e.g. by drilling or dissolution) and can work in concert with other methods (for instance it could be used as a screening tool prior to lipid extraction).Here we report the construction of a DESI-MS interface and consider the potential of the method to contribute to the debate surrounding the preservation of proteins on artefacts. The DESI-MS interface was fitted to a conventional ion trap mass spectrometer and tested using peptides and proteins artificially applied to the surface of flint flakes and potsherd samples. A range of intact proteins was analysed; the DESI interface identified test proteins up to a maximum molecular weight of approximately 20 kDa. Peptides generated from these and larger proteins could be detected using DESI-MS following tryptic digestion in situ. The collected data allowed identification of the originating proteins. The potential applications to archaeological science of this new analytical tool are discussed.     

Measuring use-related fracture velocity in lithic armatures to identify spears,javelins, darts,and arrows

This study employs a brittle fracture-mechanics-based approach to explore the relationship between lithic fracture velocity and precursory loading rate in fine-grained lithic armatures. The data demonstrate that only high-speed dart and arrow armatures are subject to dynamic loading events, whereas spear and javelin armatures are limited to rapid (and quasi-static) loading. The data presented were derived from controlled experiments employing spears, javelins, spearthrower darts, and arrows. Armatures associated with both bow and spearthrower technologies are reliably identified and distinguished from those of low-speed technologies such as spears and javelins. Javelin armatures may also sustain higher velocity fractures than spear armatures, thus permitting the further differentiation of these technologies. The methodology offers a quantitative, non-subjective means to identify the delivery technology associated with a lithic armature.     

National identity and primitive methodism in the United States: A transatlantic perspective

The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States of America was, throughout the nineteenth century, a denomination that was transatlantic in character. It attempted to act both as a home away from home for newly arriving English industrial immigrants and as a tool of their Americanization. In the former role, the denomination enjoyed considerable success, benefiting from continuous English immigration throughout the period. However, Primitive Methodist attempts at Americanization presented much greater challenges. The constant contact both with newly arriving English immigrants and the Primitive Methodist Conference in England frustrated attempts to take the denomination in new directions and undermined its claim as an American and Americanizing church. Whilst the process of becoming American was very difficult and painful for many individual immigrants, it proved almost impossible for the institution of Primitive Methodism. Ninety years after its establishment in the United States, the denomination was still homesick.     

Western Tibet and the British Borderland

EUROPE

The Irish in Scotland (1798–1845). By James Edmund Handley. Demy 8vo. Pp. ix+313+xix. Cork : University Press, 1943. Price 10s. 6d.

British Woodland Trees. By H. L. Edlin. Demy 8vo. Pp. ix+182. 133 illustrations. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1944. Price 12s. 6d.

Brenva. By T. Graham Brown. Demy 8vo. Pp. xv+227. 72 photographs. 4 maps. London : J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1944. Price 25s.

British Survey Handbooks. 2. Rumania. By C. Kormos. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. vii+122. Map. Cambridge : University Press, 1944. Price 3s.

British Survey Handbooks. 3. Greece. Compiled by Kathleen Gibberd. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. vii+106. Map. Cambridge : University Press, 1944. Price 3s.

The U.S.S.R. : An Economic and Social Survey. By S. P. Turin, D.Sc. (Econ.). Demy 8vo. Pp. xiii+219. 8 maps, 16 diagrams, 63 statistical tables. London : Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1944. Price 16s.

ASIA

China. By A. G. Wenley and John A. Pope. Med. 8vo. Pp. v+85. 25 plates. 7 sketch maps. 3 figs. Smithsonian Institution War Background Studies No. 20. Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution, 1944.

AUSTRALASIA

Mew Zealand: A Working Democracy. By Walter Nash. Demy 8vo. Pp. vii+290. Frontispiece. 1 map. London : J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1944. Price 8s. 6d.

GEOMORPHOLOGY

Volcanoes as Landscape Forms. By C. A. Cotton. Demy 8vo. Pp. 416. Frontispiece. 223 figs. Christchurch, N.Z., and London : Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd., 1944. Price 32s. 6d.

OCEANOGRAPHY

Pacific Ocean Handbook. By Eliot G. Mears. 7x4 inches. Pp. x+198. 58 figs. 7 maps. Stanford University, California : James Ladd Delkin, 1944. Price $2.00.

EDUCATIONAL

The British Isles : A School Certificate Geography. By S. J. B. Whybrow, B.Sc, F.R.G.S. Crown 8vo. Pp. x+196. 66 sketch maps. 20 photographs. London : J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1944. Price 3s.

GENERAL

International River and Canal Transport. By Brig.‐Gen. Sir Osborne Mance, K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., assisted by J. E. Wheeler. Demy 8vo. Pp. viii+115. 2 maps. Issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London : Oxford University Press, 1944. Price 10s. 6d.

Heresies and Humours. By Major C. S. Jarvis, C.M.G., O.B.E. Demy 8vo. Pp.176. Illustrated by R. A. Young. London : Country Life Ltd., 1943. Price 8s 6d.     

A Core-Periphery GIS Model of the Historical Growth and Spread of Islam in China

Abstract

This study presents the methodology and results of a core-periphery GIS model of the historical growth and spread of Islam in China based on a dataset of 1,774 mosques. These sites were organized into data subsets according to their founding dates during five major dynastic periods in Chinese history: Tang/Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and Republican. Core areas were identified and mapped based on where mosques clustered during each period. North China was the paramount core region in all periods. Not until the late Qing and Republican periods did the Northwest and Yunnan compare with North China, while coastal China never developed into a core area.