Carbon-13 analysis, bones

Jim, S., Jones, V., Ambrose, S. H. and Evershed, R. P. (2006) Quantifying dietary macronutrient sources of carbon for bone collagen using natural abundance stable carbon isotope analysis. British Journal of Nutrition 95, 1055 1062. 

Wenk H-R, Heidelbach F (1999) Crystal alignment of carbonated apatite in bone and calcified tendon results from quantitative texture analysis. Bone 24 361-369 White SW, Hulmes DJS, Miller A (1977) Collagen-mineral axial relationship in calcified turkey leg tendon by X-ray and neutron diffraction. Nature 266 421-425 Williams RAD, Elliott JC (1989) Basic and Applied Dental Biochemistry, 2nd edn. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh... 

We proposed to study diet and health by combining bone chemistry and histomorphometry. Diet would be determined by analysis of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in bone protein and some preserved hair. In addition, trace elements would be quantitatively analyzed in preserved bone mineral. Abonyi (1993) participated in the study by reconstructing the diet from historical sources and analyzing various foods. Having analyzed human tissues for stable isotopes and trace elements, and foods for the same variables, we hoped to learn more about 19th century diet in southern Ontario, and at the same time, learn more about paleodiet reconstruction. 

Stable isotope analyses of the organic fraction of bone and of food samples was carried out on a Micromass Prism Mass Spectrometer in the Stable Isotope Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Calgary, under the direction of H.R. Krouse. Collagen samples were combusted in a Carlo Erba gas analyser which provides information on the carbon and nitrogen content of the samples andintroduces Nior CO gases into the mass spectrometer for analysis of nitrogen or carbon stable isotopes, respectively. 

The diet of the 19 century residents of Upper Canada was determined from historical sources and was reproduced in order to carry out chemical analysis. Stable carbon isotope analysis of food and human bone demonstrates that the spacing between the food eaten and the bone collagen is around 5.6%o. The value may vary slightly from this estimate since the latter is based on a reconstructed diet and a large number of bone samples, which exhibit a small amount of variation. Nevertheless, this empirically derived result agrees well with estimates from field (Vogel 1978), and laboratory studies (reviewed in Ambrose 1993). 

Lee-Thorp, J.A. and van der Merwe, N.J. 1987 Carbon isotope analysis of fossil bone apatite. South African Journal of Science 83 71-74. 

Liden, K., Takahasi, C. and Nelson, D.E. 1995 The effects of lipids in stable carbon isotope analysis and the effects of NaOH treatment on the composition of extracted bone collagen. Journal ofArchaeological Science 22 321-326. 

Haynes, C. V., Radiocarbon Analysis of Inorganic Carbon of Fossil Bone and Enamel, Science, 1968, 161, 687-688. 

In a recent study involving the inorganic analysis of human ribs from 10 subjects,66 it has been found that the calcium content varied from 24.12 to 26.91 per cent, the phosphorus from 10.75 to 12.11 per cent, and the carbonate as carbon dioxide varied from 2.81 to 3.95 per cent. Inter-individual differences of this magnitude would seem to exist since the inorganic composition of bone is probably relatively stable and not subject to short-term fluctuations. 

Preparaiim of the Bom Ash,—The hones usually employed in this manufacture arc those of oxen, of sheep, or of horses, The bones of sheep are preferred, as the ash which they yield is less compact, and more easily attacked by an acid. They contain, besides sabphosphate of lime, carbonate of lime, and a small per cottage of other salts, as phosphate of magnesia, chloride of sodium, fluoride of calcium, et cetera also a large proportion of animoi matter, estimated at from thirty-three to fifty per cent., according to the kind of bone, and the age of the animal. The following analysis of the bones of the ox is by Berzelius —... 

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