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A Semi-Automated Bone Pretreatment System and the Pretreatment of Older and Contaminated Samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

I A Law  and
R E M Hedges
I A Law
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3 QJ, United Kingdom
R E M Hedges
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3 QJ, United Kingdom
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Abstract

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A semi-automated continuous-flow system used to process archaeological bone to purified gelatin or amino acids for 14C dating is described. Powdered bone is retained in flow cells specifically designed to permit the sequential leaching of the bone with acid, alkali and water. Crude collagen obtained by this process is gelatinized, and than either purified directly using a macroporous cation exchange resin (BioRad AGMP-50), or hydrolyzed and the amino acids desalted on BioRad 50W-X8 resin. When compared with previous methods used by the laboratory, the new method allows more samples to be treated to a higher degree of purification. Examples of dates obtained on “standard” bones are presented, and confirm that no contamination is introduced from the components used in the new process.

Type
I. Sample Preparation and Measurement Techniques
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 31 , Issue 3: June 20-25, 1988 Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia , 1989 , pp. 247 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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