” We utilized imaging innovation to measure the presence of collagen in bone samples in a non-destructive way to select the most suitable samples (or sample areas) to be submitted to radiocarbon dating analysis,” states Cristina Malegori, first author of the article and scientist at Genoa University Department of Pharmacy. Since of the diagenetic alteration of collagen over time, big beginning weights of Palaeolithic bones (= 500 mg bone product) are required to draw out adequate collagen for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating (minimum 1% yield). “This approach assists to dramatically lower the number of samples destroyed for 14C analysis, and within the bone, it helps to prevent the choice of areas that may present an amount of collagen not enough for the dating. In addition, combining the HSI system with PLS regression allowed, for the first time, on samples of ancient bones, not just to figure out the total collagen material however also to localize it at a high spatial resolution (about 30 um), getting quantitative chemical maps.
“Moreover when the prediction of collagen reveals that the bone was inadequately maintained, we can choose to perform a soft 14C pretreatment to minimize collagen loss throughout the extraction”.
Ingenious near-infrared hyperspectral imaging technology allows non-destructive analysis of collagen in historical bones, protecting valuable material while offering crucial data for radiocarbon dating and human advancement research studies.
Securing the cultural heritage of ancient bone artifacts is now possible. Near-infrared hyperspectral imaging and radiocarbon dating together to make the undetectable noticeable.
An ingenious method developed by an Italian team is emerging that will reinvent the field of archaeology and radiocarbon dating and protect our cultural heritage. The researchers have actually utilized it with unexpected results on historical bones, making the unnoticeable visible.
This important achievement-published today (April 11, 2023) in the journal Communications Chemistry of the Nature group-is the result of comprehensive research study work collaborated by Professor Sahra Talamo, in which specialists in the field of analytical chemistry from the University of Bologna and the University of Genoa worked together.
The group has developed a brand-new technique for evaluating archaeological bones that, for the very first time, makes it possible to quantify and map at high resolution the presence of collagen, the unnoticeable protein that is important for making radiocarbon dates and therefore getting new details on human advancement.
” Our outcomes will provide considerable advances for the study of human evolution,” says Talamo coauthor of the research study and director of the Radiocarbon dating laboratory BRAVHO at the University of Bologna. “as we will have the ability to minimize the damage of valuable bone material, which is under the security and improvement of European cultural heritage and hence allow us to contextualize the important object by supplying a precise calendar age.”
Cristina Malegori and Sahra Talamo at the Radiocarbon dating lab BRAVHO at the University of Bologna Credit: University of Bologna.
Bones can supply an excellent offer of details about ancient populations lives: what they ate, their reproductive habits, their illness and the migrations they undertook. Bones can not give us all the info we so long for.
In order to integrate the need to maintain the stability of the artifacts as much as possible with the requirement to perform radiocarbon analyses, the scientists for that reason established an ingenious method that, thanks to a cam combined with near-infrared, permits them to find the average collagen material in the observed samples.
” We used imaging technology to measure the existence of collagen in bone samples in a non-destructive way to choose the most suitable samples (or sample regions) to be submitted to radiocarbon dating analysis,” states Cristina Malegori, very first author of the short article and scientist at Genoa University Department of Pharmacy. “Near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (HSI) was utilized along with a chemometric design to create chemical pictures of the circulation of collagen in ancient bones. This model measures the collagen at every pixel and hence offers a chemical mapping of collagen material.”
It is extremely difficult, pricey, and lengthy to evaluate all the bones present at one historical website for collagen preservation, most notably, it would result in the destruction of valuable product. In truth, human fossils and/or bone artifacts are significantly rarer and more precious with time. Because of the diagenetic modification of collagen over time, large starting weights of Palaeolithic bones (= 500 mg bone product) are essential to extract sufficient collagen for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating (minimum 1% yield). Many of the most valuable archaeological bones are too little (< < 200 mg of bone material) and/or too gorgeous for tasting. Therefore, obtaining preliminary, non-destructive information about the distribution of collagen on a bone sample is important.
It remains in this context that the technique explained in this research study really shines due to the fact that it permits obtaining info both on the location and on the material of the collagen still present in a bone sample.
" The near-infrared hyperspectral imaging camera (NIR-HSI) used in today study is a line-scan (push-broom) system that gets chemical images in which, for every pixel, a complete spectrum in the 1,000-- 2,500 nm spectral range (near infrared) is tape-recorded," states Giorgia Sciutto, co-author of the post and teacher of cultural and ecological heritage chemistry at the University of Bologna. "NIR-HSI analysis is totally non-destructive. The time required for the analysis of a single bone sample is of couple of minutes and, therefore, the system can examine lots of samples in a single day to find those suitable for analysis, conserving time and money and the unneeded waste of important material, significantly lowering time, costs and destruction of important samples."
This method is anticipated to support the choice of samples to be sent to radiocarbon analysis at lots of sites where previous efforts have not been possible due to the fact that of bad preservation.
" This brand-new technique allows not just picking the best specimens however likewise selecting the sampling point in the picked ones based on the quantity of collagen predicted," says Paolo Oliveri co-author of the paper and teacher at the Genoa University Department of Pharmacy. "This approach helps to dramatically decrease the number of samples ruined for 14C analysis, and within the bone, it helps to avoid the selection of areas that might present an amount of collagen not adequate for the dating. This increases the preservation of valuable archaeological materials."
" The capacity of the technique proposed in today research study depends on the type and quantity of information that the predictive design supplies, addressing two complementary and essential concerns for the characterization of collagen in bones: just how much and where," says Cristina Malegori, first author of the post.
Hence, this experimental technique can supply quantitative information related to the typical collagen content present in the entire sample sent for investigation. The examination can be carried out not just in small and localized locations (as in single-point analysis), but it can also consider the whole surface area of the sample, therefore producing a greater and far more substantial amount of information. In addition, integrating the HSI system with PLS regression allowed, for the very first time, on samples of ancient bones, not just to determine the overall collagen material however likewise to localize it at a high spatial resolution (about 30 um), acquiring quantitative chemical maps.
" As far as radiocarbon is worried, we might tactically sample bones of high patrimonial value. For example, understanding the accurate amount of collagen focused in an accurate location of the bone enables us to cut only this portion," says Talamo. "Moreover when the forecast of collagen shows that the bone was improperly preserved, we can choose to perform a soft 14C pretreatment to reduce collagen loss during the extraction".
In general, this innovative and incisive mix of NIR-HSI spectroscopy prescreening and the radiocarbon technique provides, for the very first time, detailed info about the presence of collagen on historical bones, reducing lab costs by dating only products suitable for 14C and increasing the number of historical bones that can be protected, and, for that reason, readily available for future research.
Recommendation: "Near-infrared hyperspectral imaging to map collagen content in prehistoric bones for radiocarbon dating" by Cristina Malegori, Giorgia Sciutto, Paolo Oliveri, Silvia Prati, Lucrezia Gatti, Emilio Catelli, Stefano Benazzi, Silvia Cercatillo, Dragana Paleček, Rocco Mazzeo and Sahra Talamo, 11 April 2023, Communications Chemistry.DOI: 10.1038/ s42004-023-00848-y.