Advances in identifying archaeological traces of horn and other keratinous hard tissues
Publication date
2015Keyword
Horn; Hoof
; Baleen
; Tortoiseshell
; Mineral preservation
; Keratin
; Peptide mass fingerprint
; Mass spectrometry
; Flight mass-spectrometry
; Species identification
; Hair shafts
; Alpha-keratin
; Whale baleen
; Turtle shell
; Sea-turtle
; Evolution
; Proteins
; Bone
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Despite being widely utilized in the production of cultural objects, keratinous hard tissues, such as horn, baleen, and tortoiseshell, rarely survive in archaeological contexts unless factors combine to inhibit biodeterioration. Even when these materials do survive, working, use, and diagenetic changes combine to make identification difficult. This paper reviews the chemistry and deterioration of keratin and past approaches to the identification of keratinous archaeological remains. It describes the formation of horn, hoof, baleen, and tortoiseshell and demonstrates how identification can be achieved by combining visual observation under low-power magnification with an understanding of the structure and characteristic deterioration of these materials. It also demonstrates how peptide mass fingerprinting of the keratin can be used to identify keratinous tissues, often to species, even when recognizable structural information has not survived.Version
No full-text available in the repositoryCitation
O'Connor SA, Solazzo C and Collins M (2015) Advances in identifying archaeological traces of horn and other keratinous hard tissues. Studies in Conservation. 60(6): 393-417.Link to Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1179/2047058414y.0000000134Type
Articleae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
https://doi.org/10.1179/2047058414y.0000000134