An acetic acid-based extraction method to obtain high quality collagen from archeological bone remains

Human bones, recovered from excavations, are an important biological archive of information. In particular, the analysis of the collagen fraction is useful for paleodietary reconstruction, via light stable isotopes, and for 14C dating. Generally, collagen extraction procedures do not prevent loss of integrity of proteins. As a consequence, information about the state-of-remains preservation is unavailable. Here we describe a “soft” nondestructive CH3COOH-based method to recover collagen from archaeological bones, and also to obtain material for successive isotopic analyses. Our isotopic measurements on the extracts indicate that the CH3COOH-based method of extraction may be routinely employed in the context of paleodiet studies. In addition, we propose that biochemical characterization by denaturant electrophoresis and Western blot on CH3COOH extracts may be used as a bone collagen quality indicator.