| Abstract: | Research on the decomposition of bone collagen offers the key to a wealth of hidden information, for instance, to understanding palaeoclimatic conditions; habitat-specific parameters such as altitude; and for the reconstruction of palaeodiet and subsistence patterns. Radiocarbon dating, one of the most commonly used geochronological techniques is also preferentially carried out on bone collagen. Because negatively charged ions, and especially phosphate groups, are responsible for the tight bonding between organic molecules and bone, soluble serum proteins need not necessarily be leached from buried bone. The authors' hypothesis is that intruding minerals, aided by recrystallization of the bone mineral matrix, and colloid formation, aided by humic substances, form protective layers that preserve serum proteins in bone even after long periods of burial. We have used electrophoresis and Western blotting to recover protein fractions from about 150 archaeological bones from various sites and epochs (up to 5500 BC ) and have succeeded in recovering, purifying all, and identifying some of the proteins. Molecular weight bands corresponding to albumin, transferrin and a-2HS-glycoprotein (A2HS) were frequently recovered. This paper presents the method for separating serum proteins from archaeological bone and for their identification. Twenty-five per cent of samples with the respective molecular weight band still gave a positive immunological reaction with antibodies. We conclude that non-collagenous proteins, especially serum proteins, may be well preserved in bone. |
