Making eggshell visible in the archaeological record
Despite its presence in many types of deposit, eggshell has long been a neglected archaeological resource. The difficulty of recovering the material, combined with analytical constraints on subsequent taxonomic identification, has led to systematic underuse. This thesis will begin to address this shortcoming by pursuing two main lines of research. First, a novel identification technique based on ZooMS (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry) and peptide mass fingerprinting is developed for eggshell. The new technique is then applied to archaeological eggshell assemblages from Anglo-Scandinavian York and Norse-era sites in the northern and western isles of Scotland. This provides new insights into egg use in these locations during this period, and raises a range of new questions regarding the use of domestic and wild resources. Second, an investigation into patterns of diagenesis in the eggshell proteins which form the basis of the technique is conducted. The principal aims of this analysis are to explore the prevalent diagenetic processes affecting eggshell proteins and amino acids, and thus to test whether it is possible to produce an estimate of the expected temporal span of the technique based on high-temperature
Stewart, John
Making eggshell visible in the archaeological record. Despite its presence in many types of deposit, eggshell has long been a neglected archaeological resource. The difficulty of recovering the material, combined with analytical constraints on subsequent taxonomic identification, has led to systematic underuse. This thesis will begin to address this shortcoming by pursuing two main lines of research. First, a novel identification technique based on ZooMS (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry) and peptide mass fingerprinting is developed for eggshell. The new technique is then applied to archaeological eggshell assemblages from Anglo-Scandinavian York and Norse-era sites in the northern and western isles of Scotland. This provides new insights into egg use in these locations during this period, and raises a range of new questions regarding the use of domestic and wild resources. Second, an investigation into patterns of diagenesis in the eggshell proteins which form the basis of the technique is conducted. The principal aims of this analysis are to explore the prevalent diagenetic processes affecting eggshell proteins and amino acids, and thus to test whether it is possible to produce an estimate of the expected temporal span of the technique based on high-temperature
making eggshell visible archaeological_record despite presence many type deposit eggshell long neglected archaeological_resource difficulty recover material combine analytical constraint subsequent taxonomic identification lead systematic begin_address shortcoming pursue two_main line research first novel identification technique base zooarchaeology mass_spectrometry mass develop eggshell new_technique apply_archaeological eggshell assemblages anglo scandinavian york norse site_northern western isle scotland provide_new insight use location period raise range new question_regard use domestic wild resource second investigation pattern diagenesis eggshell protein form_basis technique conduct principal_aim analysis explore prevalent diagenetic process affect eggshell protein amino_acid thus test_whether possible produce estimate expect temporal span technique base high_temperature