Combing through museum collections. A “museomic” application of ZooMS

作者：Alessia Monticone, Elisa Panero, Erika Heritier, Barbara Pergolizzi, Federica Dal Bello, Enrica Mecarelli, Rosa Boano, P de Vingo, Maria C. Codlin, Enrica Pessione, Beatrice Demarchi · 发表于：International Journal of Osteoarchaeology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1002/oa.3295 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Museums and Cultural Heritage、Aesthetic Perception and Analysis、Conservation Techniques and Studies

Abstract This article presents the application of Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to osseous Longobard artifacts from the collection of the “Musei Reali di Torino” (MRT; Torino, Italy). Like most archaeological items made of worked bone/antler in museum collections, the raw material of such specimens is usually attributed to deer, often without accurate taxonomic attribution. Therefore, the main aim of the present investigation was to shed light on taxonomical aspects using biomolecular approaches. We first examined the collagen preservation of the artifacts, then we compared three sampling methods (invasive, eraser‐based, and bag‐based), and we evaluated the quality of the collagen fingerprint obtained. Overall, we found a good, albeit not optimal, biomolecular preservation status, even in heavily restored objects coming from the 19th‐century collections. Out of 37 specimens analyzed through matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight–mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF‐MS) and nanoHPLC‐tandem MS, 31 yielded usable data. The results confirmed the widespread use of cervid as the osseous raw material for comb‐making in Longobard times in Piedmont, but we also found that bovine bones ( Bos but also other taxa belonging to family Bovidae, such as caprines) and equid bones were exploited—demonstrating opportunistic use of animal resources. As far as the method is concerned, the ZooMS peptide markers useful to distinguish between bovids and cervids ( m/z 1580 v...