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Development of Sample Pretreatment of Silk for Radiocarbon Dating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Kyeong Ja Kim ,
John Southon ,
Mineo Imamura  and
Rodger Sparks
Kyeong Ja Kim*
Affiliation:
Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 30 Gajeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305–350, Korea Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Ltd., PO Box 31-312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
John Southon
Affiliation:
Earth Systems Science Dept., University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA
Mineo Imamura
Affiliation:
National Museum of Japanese History, 117 Jonai-cho Sakura, Chiba 285, Japan
Rodger Sparks
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Ltd., PO Box 31-312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
*
Corresponding author. Email: kjkim@kigam.re.kr
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Abstract

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We have developed sample pretreatments for silk for radiocarbon dating. Characteristics of silk under different types of pretreatment were investigated, as well as the behavior of dye and possible contaminants. We found that dye could be removed completely, together with all other foreign materials bigger than 1.2 μm, using a glass microfiber filter after decomposition with 6N HCl. The decomposed proteins were concentrated using Centriprep® ultrafiltration concentrators with 3 different molecular weight cut-offs. By taking a molecular weight fraction—which selects for secondary structures of silk protein—14C dating of silk samples can be made more reliable. This study confirms that uniformly fractured polypeptide chains of silk provide an appropriate fraction for 14C age dating to select silk protein against dye particles and undecomposed foreign contaminants.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , 2008 , pp. 131 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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