Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2026

Abstract

The effect of three commonly used preparation protocols on bone collagen δ2H and δ18O values was investigated, using six generally well-preserved faunal bones (cattle, bison, horse) ranging in age from the Holocene to Late Pleistocene. The treatments tested were ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid demineralization without gelatinization and hydrochloric acid demineralization with and without gelatinization. There are significant shifts in δ18O values among preparation methods. No systematic shifts in bone collagen δ2H values were noted among the three treatments, and most offsets were low (< 2–3 ‰) and smaller than typical measurement uncertainties. A few sample/treatment combinations yielded slightly higher inter-treatment δ2H differences (∼ 5–7 ‰). Lower mass fraction of hydrogen in HCl-demineralized samples suggests (greater) molecular alterations to the collagen structure, with possibilities including deamidation and/or peptide bond hydrolysis. The use of 2H-enriched water (Δ2H + 258 ‰) in the demineralization and gelatinization solutions systematically elevated resultant collagen δ2H values; however, given the expected water isotopic variation among labs this should be an insignificant source of inter-lab variation. The δ2H values appear to be fairly robust in these samples. Further work across a greater range of samples from different burial environments and diagenetic states is recommended.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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