| Abstract: |
In bones not influenced by other diagenetic effects, heating events can be reflected in changes in the relative concentrations of constituent amino acids that alter the collagen-like pattern in bone to a non-collagen-like pattern with an increase in the relative NH3 levels. The ratio of glycine (Gly) to glutamic acid (Glu) can be used as an index of a collagen-like or non-collagen-like pattern. For a group of eight bone samples from a southwestern United States Pueblo II period Anasazi site dated to about AD 1100, amino acid composition, as characterized by Gly/Glu values, along with NH3 data, clearly indicated which bone fragments had been subjected to one or more heating events. The use of Gly/Glu and NH3 values for the purpose of inferring heating events may not be accurate for bones which have experienced other significant diagenetic effects not related to heating.
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