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The studies described here introduce a model for residue preservation on stone tools. They simulate stone tool manufacture in order to define parameters important for the study of DNA residues. Microscopic examination of stone tools has identified microcracks that trap DNA and protein from animal blood cells. Thorough investigation of different methods to recover residues from stone tools shows that surface washing leaves DNA and protein, trapped in subsurface microcracks. However, other extraction techniques are able to release 60-80% of DNA and protein residues. Previous research documents the identification of protein from stone tools sonicated in 5% ammonium hydroxide, but it remains untested whether the same treatment yields useable DNA. Using this treatment, I identified 13-year-old DNA residues from experimentally manufactured stone tools. In addition, results clearly indicate that washing procedures typically used to curate stone tools removed only a small fraction of the DNA deposited during animal butchery. Twenty-four pieces of chipped stone recovered from the Bugas-Holding site were studied to explore the validity of ancient DNA residue identifications. Nine tools yielded DNA residues. Modern humans did not touch three of these tools, which suggests that the DNA recovered from them was present prior to excavation. One tool, which was handled by excavators without gloves, harbored DNA from three species, and these templates competed during PCR. On at least two tools, handling after excavation introduced animal DNA unrelated to tool use. Careful testing of Bugas-Holding chipped stone suggests that stone tools may harbor both ancient and modern DNA, and that investigators must take great care to exclude modern DNA from ancient specimens. Ultimately, I developed and streamlined a method to analyze DNA-containing residues preserved on stone tools. This led to several technical improvements in ancient DNA residue analysis. These include a more effective DNA recovery protocol, methods to measure sensitivity and inhibition of PCR in each sample, and strategies to surmount competition between templates during amplification, which can occur in samples that contain DNA from multiple species. These new developments will help future investigators achieve the full potential of ancient DNA residue analysis. / Graduation date: 2003

No / This authoritative book combines contributions from experts in academic, governmental and industrial environments, to provide a unique, comprehensive look at: - Why hair can serve as an invaluable bio-resource in toxicology, with up-to-date reviews on hair growth, hair fibre formation and hair pigmentation - Information (including regulatory details) on the exposure of hair (and by extension the body) to drug and non-drug chemicals and pollutants - Toxicological issues relevant to the use of hair products (including colourants, shampoos and depilatories) - The ability of hair to capture information on personal identity, chemical exposure, and environmental interactions - How hair can provide an understanding of human life from archaeological and historical perspectives - Future direction in the use of hair in toxicology Hair in Toxicology: An Important Biomonitor is ideal as a reference and guide to investigations in the biomedical, biochemical and pharmaceutical sciences at the graduate and post graduate level.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Anthropology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-144).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Colorado, Boulder, 1992. / "Order number 9232733"--Added t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [154]-167).

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based proteomic methods have provided archaeologists with a powerful tool for the discovery and identification of proteins within artifacts. Traditionally, discovery-based methods have utilized a non-targeted full mass scan method in an attempt to identify all proteins present within a given sample. However, increased sensitivity is often needed to target specific proteins in order to test hypotheses. Proteins present within archaeological materials present a unique challenge, as they are often subjected to a variety of chemical transformations both before and after burial. Any preserved proteins will be present within a complex mixture of compounds, and full mass scans often fail to detect less abundant proteins of interest. Consistent and reliable targeted methods are needed to detect protein biomarkers. Taphonomic experimentation was employed as a means to identify the effect of particular processes and conditions on the preservation of mare's milk proteins. In addition, three LC-MS methods were evaluated for their efficiency in identifying mare's milk-specific peptide biomarkers from experimental pottery samples. The ability to reliably detect the presence of these species-specific peptides can help provide evidence about past cultural groups, including the origins of dairying and animal domestication.

abstract: Mobility is an important aspect of the lives of religious individuals described by medieval texts in early and late medieval Ireland, and biogeochemical methods can be used to detect mobility in archaeological populations. Stories are recorded of monks and nuns traveling and founding monasteries across Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, and other areas of Europe. However, these texts rarely address the quotidian lives of average monks and nuns who lived in monastic communities. This dissertation seeks to understand if travel was a typical part of the experiences of religious and lay people in early and late medieval Ireland. It also aims to increase understanding of how monastic communities related to the local lay communities, including addressing if the monastery was populated by those who grew up in the local area. Another methodological aim of this dissertation is to advance the field of archaeological biogeochemistry by (1) adding to the bioavailable strontium baseline in Ireland and (2) quantifying the contribution of ocean-derived strontium to coastal environments. These topics are explored through the biogeochemical analysis of 88 individuals buried at 5 early and late medieval monasteries in Ireland and the analysis of a total of 85 plant samples from four counties in Ireland. The three papers in this dissertation present: (1) a summary of the mobility of religious and lay people buried at the monasteries (Chapter 2), (2) a case study presenting evidence for fosterage of a local child at the early medieval monastery of Illaunloughan, Co. Kerry (Chapter 3), and (3) a study designed to quantify the impact of sea spray on bioavailable strontium in coastal environments (Chapter 4). The majority of lay and religious individuals studied were estimated to be local, indicating that medieval Irish Christianity was strongly rooted in the local community. The study of ocean-derived strontium in a coastal environment indicates that sea spray has a non-uniform impact on bioavailable strontium in coastal regions. These findings shed new light on medieval monastic and lay life in Ireland through the application of biogeochemical methods, contributing to the growth of the field of archaeological chemistry in Ireland. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2018

The purpose of this thesis was to identify the different patterns of food consumption across space and time at Liangchengzhen, a Longshan (ca. 2600-1900 B.C.) site located in Shandong Province, China. The primary hypothesis of the research contended that evidence of increasing social inequality with respect to food consumption would be found from early to late phases at Liangchengzhen. In addition, rice and meat from mammals, especially pigs, were hypothesized as the most likely types of prestigious foods for daily and ritual activities. Fish and marine foods in general were hypothesized to be foods that average households could obtain since Liangchengzhen was close to the sea and would not have as high a value as mammal meat. Pottery was sampled from Early Phase storage/trash and ritual pits as well as Late Phase storage/trash and ritual pits located in Excavation Area One. Pottery types included ding and guan, hypothesized for cooking meat, and yan, hypothesized for steaming vegetables and grains. Lipid residue analysis was performed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS) to quantify the amount of C15 and C17 alkane peaks in the pottery and compare these quantities to the amount of C15 and C17 alkane peaks in terrestrial and marine food reference sources. Results indicated that socially valued food consumption transitioned from marine food sources in the early phase ritual pits to rice and pig in the late phase ritual pits. Millet and plant residues were consistently present in storage/trash pits from both early and late phases. Findings also indicated that the use of pottery types for cooking were not limited to one source, i.e., marine, rice, millet and plant residues were found in all pottery types while pig residues were found in ding and yan pottery. Results of the lipid residue analysis provide partial support of increasing social inequality with respect to food consumption from early to late phases at Liangchengzhen, The findings from the lipid residue analysis in this thesis more closely resemble the distribution of integrative, communal consumption pattern in the early phase and a hierarchical consumption pattern during the late phase. Fish, more abundant in the early phase, was almost non-existent by the late phase. Pig and rice, hypothesized as preferred foods, were found only during the late phase, primarily in the ritual pit, H31. Millet and plant were conspicuously present during both phases, but had greater separation from ritual pits during the late phase. However, these findings are surprising since it does not match the material remains of rice and pig found in early phase pits or late phase storage/trash pits from Excavation Area One. It can be concluded that patterns of consumption at Liangchengzhen changed substantially from the early phase to the late phase with regards to food residues found in hypothesized ritual pits. Considering these data with the understanding that food in China has historically been used as a tool to wield influence and power, it can be hypothesized that a social hierarchy may have developed by the late phase that was not present during the early phase. However, participation in the activities held in late phase ritual pits may have been inclusive for all Liangchangzhen residents rather than exclusive for higher status individuals. The current research provides a starting point for further investigation into the foodways at Liangchengzhen. This thesis is the first systematic study of food residues from the interior of Neolithic vessels from ancient China that relates the results of the residue analysis to patterns of food consumption and social change.

The analysis of protein residues recovered from archaeological artifacts provides a unique opportunity to reveal new information about past societies. However, many scientists are currently unwilling to accept protein-based results due to problems in method development and a basic lack of agreement regarding the ability of proteins to bind to, and preserve within, artifacts such as pottery. In this paper, I address these challenges by conducting a two-phase experiment. First, I quantitatively evaluate the tendency of proteins to sorb to ceramic matrices by using total organic carbon analysis and spectrophotometric assays to analyze samples of experimentally cooked ceramic. I then test a series of solvent and physical parameters in order to develop an optimized method for extracting and preparing protein residues for identification via mass spectrometry. Results demonstrate that protein strongly sorbs to ceramic and is not easily removed, despite repeated washing, unless an appropriate extraction strategy is used. This has implications for the future of paleodietary, conservation ecology and forensic research in that it suggests the potential for recovery of aged or even ancient proteins from ceramic matrices.