Repository logo
 

Proteomic evidence of dietary sources in ancient dental calculus.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Warinner, Christina  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4528-5877
Bouwman, Abigail 

Abstract

Archaeological dental calculus has emerged as a rich source of ancient biomolecules, including proteins. Previous analyses of proteins extracted from ancient dental calculus revealed the presence of the dietary milk protein β-lactoglobulin, providing direct evidence of dairy consumption in the archaeological record. However, the potential for calculus to preserve other food-related proteins has not yet been systematically explored. Here we analyse shotgun metaproteomic data from 100 archaeological dental calculus samples ranging from the Iron Age to the post-medieval period (eighth century BC to nineteenth century AD) in England, as well as 14 dental calculus samples from contemporary dental patients and recently deceased individuals, to characterize the range and extent of dietary proteins preserved in dental calculus. In addition to milk proteins, we detect proteomic evidence of foodstuffs such as cereals and plant products, as well as the digestive enzyme salivary amylase. We discuss the importance of optimized protein extraction methods, data analysis approaches and authentication strategies in the identification of dietary proteins from archaeological dental calculus. This study demonstrates that proteomic approaches can robustly identify foodstuffs in the archaeological record that are typically under-represented due to their poor macroscopic preservation.

Description

Keywords

dental calculus, dietary reconstruction, mass spectrometry, proteomics, Archaeology, DNA, Ancient, Dental Calculus, Diet, England, History, 15th Century, History, 16th Century, History, 17th Century, History, 18th Century, History, 19th Century, History, Ancient, History, Medieval, Proteome

Journal Title

Proc Biol Sci

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0962-8452
1471-2954

Volume Title

285

Publisher

The Royal Society