A new method for carbon isotopic analysis of protein

The Promontory caves (Utah) and Franktown Cave (Colorado) contain high-fidelity records of short-term occupations by groups with material culture connections to the Subarctic/Northern Plains. This research uses Promontory and Franktown bison dung, hair, hide, and bone collagen to establish local baseline carbon isotopic variability and identify leather from a distant source. The ankle wrap of one Promontory Cave 1 moccasin had a δ13C value that indicates a substantial C4 component to the animal's diet, unlike the C3 diets inferred from 171 other Promontory and northern Utah bison samples. We draw on a unique combination of multitissue isotopic analysis, carbon isoscapes, ancient DNA (species and sex identification), tissue turnover rates, archaeological contexts, and bison ecology to show that the high δ13C value was not likely a result of local plant consumption, bison mobility, or trade. Instead, the bison hide was likely acquired via long-distance travel to/from an area of abundant C4 grasses far to the south or east. Expansive landscape knowledge gained through long-distance associations would have allowed Promontory caves inhabitants to make well-informed decisions about directions and routes of movement for a territorial shift, which seems to have occurred in the late thirteenth century.

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On the necessity of organic solvent extraction for carbon isotopic analysis ofα-cellulose: implications for environmental reconstructions

International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry ◽

10.1080/03067310903410949 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 90 (8) ◽

pp. 605-619 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Faxiang Tao ◽

Ying Liu ◽

Ning An

Keyword(s):

Solvent Extraction ◽

Organic Solvent ◽

Isotopic Analysis ◽

Carbon Isotopic ◽

Organic Solvent Extraction

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An experimental set-up for carbon isotopic analysis of atmospheric CO 2 and an example of ecosystem response during solar eclipse 2010

Journal of Earth System Science ◽

10.1007/s12040-013-0303-1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 122 (3) ◽

pp. 623-638 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

TANIA GUHA ◽

PROSENJIT GHOSH

Keyword(s):

Solar Eclipse ◽

Isotopic Analysis ◽

Ecosystem Response ◽

Carbon Isotopic ◽

Set Up

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A new method for the determination of the δ18O composition of bone phosphate: applications to the thermal physiology of vertebrates

The Paleontological Society Special Publications ◽

10.1017/s2475262200008297 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 269-269

Author(s):

William J. Showers ◽

Bernard Genna ◽

Reese E. Barrick ◽

Alfred G. Fischer

Keyword(s):

Isotopic Analysis ◽

Xrd Analysis ◽

Exchange Chromatography ◽

New Method ◽

Small Samples ◽

Thermal Physiology ◽

Fossil Bone ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Bone Material ◽

Silver Phosphate

A new method for the preparation of bone samples for δ18O-PO4 analysis has been developed. The phosphate from bone samples is separated and purified using ion exchange chromatography, and then precipitated as silver phosphate using the Firsching method. O2 is then extracted by reaction with bromine pentafluoride and converted to CO2 for isotopic analysis. Advantages of the silver phosphate technique over the bismuth phosphate technique are (1) the simplicity of the method, (2) silver phosphate is not hygroscopic so atmospheric water is not an oxygen contaminate, and (3) very small samples (2 mg to 10 mg) can be analyzed with an increase of precision compared to previous techniques. Iron and silica oxides added to Ag3PO4 standards produce no offset, which suggests that this new technique is not sensitive to interferences from cements commonly found in fossil bone material. Analyses have been performed on standards ranging in size from 30 mg to 2 mg with a σ1 of ± 0.05 per mil.The δ18O-PO4 compositional pattern of the bones of modern vertebrates have been analyzed to provide a base for the interpretation of the δ18O-PO4 pattern of fossil vertebrates. The average %PO4 in modern mammals and reptiles is approximately 15% with a σ1 of 2-3 %. The average %PO4 of fossil reptiles range from 10 to 25% with σ1 variations of up to 10%. The %PO4 variation can be related to cementation of void spaces in the bone material. XRD analysis reveals that calcite, dolomite, ankerite, and silica cements are commonly present. FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) yields low indices calculated according to the formula of Shemesh, 1990 [GCA 54(9):2433]. Thin sections of the fossil bone material show detailed structures. All this evidence suggests that the fossil bone δ18O-PO4 composition is pristine and not altered by diagenesis. The total δ18O-PO4 σ1 variation of 10 or more skeletal elements analyzed for each individual specimen varies from 0.1 per mil for a domestic cow (Bos) to 0.8 per mil for a Komodo dragon (Varanus). Variations in between appear to be related to thermal physiology and variations in drinking water δ18O due to seasonality or migration.

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