New techniques for the recovery of small amounts of mature enamel proteins

Currently there are no non-destructive techniques to obtain protein from the dental enamel, the most mineralized tissue in mammals and most resistant to diagenesis, which provides a window to the developing period by means of incremental markings containing proteins. To recover protein, dissolution of powdered enamel is required. Here we tested whether samples obtained by micro-etching of the enamel surface were adequate for protein analysis by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry and identification in protein databases. The micro-etch techniques were effective in generating adequate samples for mass spectrometry (from 3 to 13.4 μm superficial enamel), being also highly conservative, since they rendered masses of enamel ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mg. Using these techniques the separation of proteins by SDS-PAGE was not necessary, and the whole procedure was easier. Results showed successful identification of specific enamel proteins after whole crown superficial etching with 11% EDTA in the case of immature porcine samples, and with 10% HCl in the case of mature human enamel. X- and Y-isoforms of amelogenin, ameloblastin, and enamelin peptides were identified. The new techniques described here allowed the successful recovery of enamel proteins, opening new avenues for the use of enamel protein information in fossil/archeological material, where sometimes little protein is left.     

Stone technology at the Middle Pleistocene site of Mata Menge,Flores, Indonesia

The stone technology from Mata Menge on Flores, Indonesia, is described, providing the first detailed analysis of the largest stone artefact assemblage from a stratified and securely dated Middle Pleistocene site in Southeast Asia. Technological analysis indicates a reduction sequence based on the centripetal, or “radial”, reduction of transported blanks. The implications for early hominin behaviour on Flores are considered.     

Women of Later Han

Though Confucian teachings might require them to subjugate themselves to the interests of their husband and his family, women of the Han period had a degree of personal autonomy, with rights to property, divorce and remarriage, and some capacity for independent action. At the head of the state, moreover, an empress dowager held regency power during an imperial minority. Despite their formal freedoms, however, in practice most women found their fate and fortune subordinated to the interests of men; and while all people were under constant threat of disease and death, a woman faced particular danger in time of childbirth. Based on accounts from the Hou Hanshu of Fan Ye and other sources, the present study considers some aspects of this situation.     

Pollen analysis of coprolites from a late Pleistocene–Holocene cave deposit (Wezmeh Cave,west Iran): insights into the late Pleistocene and late Holocene vegetation and flora of the central Zagros Mountains

Coprolite pollen analysis is increasingly used by palynologists to reconstruct the palaeovegetation especially in the arid to semi-arid regions where lakes and peat bogs are scarce. This study is the first palynological analysis of coprolites in Iran to examine their potential in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Four pollen-rich coprolite samples were studied from the Wezmeh Cave in western Iran with a recently discovered late Quaternary (70 ka to sub-recent) faunal assemblage dominated by carnivore remains. Pollen analysis of coprolites shows that a mountain steppe dominated the glacial landscapes of the area. Only one sub-recent sample indicates the presence of dispersed tree stands. One sample was rich in Tulipa pollen suggesting that tulips were relatively abundant during the glacial periods. Cousinia (Asteraceae) pollen was found in all samples with considerable values in one sample indicating its importance in the glacial landscapes of the Zagros Mountains. This study revealed that coprolite pollen analysis can provide an invaluable source of information to understand the floristic composition of palaeolandscapes of the Irano-Turanian region.