Abstract

RationaleMicrofaunal skeletal remains can be sensitive indicators of the contemporary ecosystem in which they are sampled and are often recovered in owl pellets in large numbers. Species identification of these remains can be obtained using a range of morphological criteria established for particular skeletal elements, but typically dominated by a reliance on cranial characters. However, this can induce biases under different environmental and taphonomic conditions. The aim of this research was to develop a high‐throughput method of objectively identifying rodent remains from archaeological deposits using collagen fingerprinting, most notably the identification of rats from other myomorph rodents as a means to identify disturbances in the archaeofauna through the presence of invasive taxa not contemporary with the archaeological deposits.MethodsCollagen was extracted from complete microfaunal skeletal remains in such a manner as to leave the bones morphologically intact (i.e., weaker concentration of acid than previously used over shorter length of time). Acid‐soluble collagen was then ultrafiltered into ammonium bicarbonate and digested with trypsin prior to dilution in the MALDI matrix and acquisition of peptide mass fingerprints using a matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionisation time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) mass spectrometer.ResultsCollagen fingerprinting was able to distinguish between Rattus, Mus, Apodemus and Micromys at the genus level; at the species level, R. rattus and R. norvegicus could be separated whereas A. flavicollis and A. sylvaticus could not. A total of 12,317 archaeological microvertebrate samples were screened for myomorph signatures but none were found to be invasive rats (Rattus) or mice (Mus). Of the contemporary murine fauna, no harvest mice (Micromys) were identified and only 24 field mouse (Apodemus) discovered.ConclusionsAs a result, no evidence of recent bioturbation could be inferred from the faunal remains of these archaeological deposits. More importantly this work presents a method for high‐throughput screening of specific taxa and is the first application of collagen fingerprinting to microfaunal remains of archaeological specimens. © 2016 The Authors. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Highlights

  • The most abundant organic remains on archaeological sites are vertebrate skeletal remains or fragments thereof

  • Homologous species-specific markers were observed for Rattus at m/z 2987/2957 (Fig. 1), but none could be identified that readily separated the two Apodemus species (A. sylvaticus and A. flavicollis)

  • It is noticeable that the peptide marker at m/z 2695.4, which is highly conserved in other vertebrate taxa at m/z 2705.4 (GFSGLQGPPGPPGSPGEQGPSGASGPAGPR), is observed throughout these myomorph rodents

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Summary

Introduction

The most abundant organic remains on archaeological sites are vertebrate skeletal remains or fragments thereof. Reptiles and amphibians are more appropriate proxies for inferences to temperature, and studied for their potential as early warning indicators for over-grazing in modern arid climates,[3,4] mammals have the advantage that they are generally more tolerant of slight changes in climate[5] and more likely to establish sufficient population sizes and enter the archaeological record. On islands such as Britain, mammals have been considered valuable palaeoenvironmental indicators in prehistory,[6] due to the periodic connection of Britain with the continent during the Quaternary. Whereas the larger carnivores, such as hyaena, may indiscriminately drag large prey into the cave, small vertebrate assemblages accumulated by owls roosting in cave roofs may be biased by the environment, and by the dietary preferences of the species of owl responsible.[10,11,12]

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