Malegori Cristina, Sciutto Giorgia, Oliveri Paolo, Prati Silvia, Gatti Lucrezia, Catelli Emilio, Benazzi Stefano, Cercatillo Silvia, Paleček Dragana, Mazzeo Rocco, Talamo Sahra
Department of Pharmacy, University of Genova, Viale Cembrano 4, I-16148, Genova, Italy.
University of Bologna, Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", Ravenna Campus, Via Guaccimanni, 42, 48121, Ravenna, Italy.
Commun Chem. 2023 Apr 11;6(1):54. doi: 10.1038/s42004-023-00848-y.
Many of the rarest prehistoric bones found by archaeologists are enormously precious and are considered to be part of our cultural and historical patrimony. Radiocarbon dating is a well-established technique that estimates the ages of bones by analysing the collagen still present. However, this method is destructive, and its use must be limited. In this study, we used imaging technology to quantify the presence of collagen in bone samples in a non-destructive way to select the most suitable samples (or sample regions) to be submitted to radiocarbon dating analysis. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) that was connected to a camera with hyperspectral imaging (HSI) was used along with a chemometric model to create chemical images of the distribution of collagen in ancient bones. This model quantifies the collagen at every pixel and thus provides a chemical mapping of collagen content. Our results will offer significant advances for the study of human evolution as we will be able to minimise the destruction of valuable bone material, which is under the protection and enhancement of European cultural heritage and thus allow us to contextualise the valuable object by providing an accurate calendar age.
考古学家发现的许多最稀有的史前骨骼极为珍贵，被视为我们文化和历史遗产的一部分。放射性碳测年是一种成熟的技术，通过分析仍存在的胶原蛋白来估算骨骼的年龄。然而，这种方法具有破坏性，其使用必须受到限制。在本研究中，我们使用成像技术以非破坏性方式量化骨样本中胶原蛋白的存在，以选择最适合进行放射性碳测年分析的样本（或样本区域）。将近红外光谱（NIR）与具有高光谱成像（HSI）的相机相连，并结合化学计量模型，以创建古代骨骼中胶原蛋白分布的化学图像。该模型对每个像素的胶原蛋白进行量化，从而提供胶原蛋白含量的化学图谱。我们的研究结果将为人类进化研究带来重大进展，因为我们能够尽量减少对珍贵骨骼材料的破坏，而这些骨骼材料受到欧洲文化遗产的保护和强化，从而通过提供准确的日历年龄来确定珍贵物品的背景信息。
