Peptide mass fingerprinting of preserved collagen in archaeological fish bones for the identification of flatfish in European waters
Authors
Dierickx, KatrienPresslee, Samantha
Hagan, Richard
Oueslati, Tarek
Harland, Jennifer
Hendy, Jessica
Orton, David
Alexander, Michelle
Harvey, Virginia L.
Affiliation
University of York; University of LillePublication Date
2022-07-27
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Bones of Pleuronectiformes (flatfish) are often not identified to species due to the lack of diagnostic features on bones that allow adequate distinction between taxa. This hinders in-depth understanding of archaeological fish assemblages and particularly flatfish fisheries throughout history. This is especially true for the North Sea region, where several commercially significant species have been exploited for centuries, yet their archaeological remains continue to be understudied. In this research, 8 peptide biomarkers for 18 different species of Pleuronectiformes from European waters are described using MALDI-TOF MS and LC-MS/MS data obtained from modern reference specimens. Bone samples (n=202) from three archaeological sites in the UK and France dating to the medieval period (c. 7th–16th century CE) were analysed using ZooMS. Of the 201 that produced good quality spectra, 196 were identified as flatfish species, revealing a switch in targeted species through time and indicating that ZooMS offers a more reliable and informative approach for species identification than osteological methods alone. We recommend this approach for future studies of archaeological flatfish remains as the precise species uncovered from a site can tell much about the origin of the fish, where people fished and whether they traded between regions.Citation
Dierickx, K., Presslee, S., Hagan, R., Oueslati, T., Harland, J., Hendy, J., Orton, D., Alexander, M., Harvey, V. L. (2022). Peptide mass fingerprinting of preserved collagen in archaeological fish bones for the identification of flatfish in European waters. Royal Society Open Science, 9, 220149. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220149Publisher
The Royal SocietyJournal
Royal Society Open ScienceAdditional Links
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.220149Type
ArticleISSN
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2054-5703ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1098/rsos.220149
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