TY - JOUR

T1 - What's the catch? Archaeological application of rapid collagen-based species identification for Pacific Salmon

AU - Korzow Richter, Kristine

AU - McGrath, Krista

AU - Masson-MacLean, Edouard

AU - Hickinbotham, Simon

AU - Tedder, Andrew

AU - Britton, Kate

AU - Bottomley, Zoe

AU - Dobney, Keith

AU - Hulme-Beaman, Ardern

AU - Zona, Margherita

AU - Fischer, Roman

AU - Collins, Matthew J.

AU - Speller, Camilla F.

PY - 2020/4

Y1 - 2020/4

N2 - Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are ecological and cultural keystone species along the Northwest Coast of North America and are ubiquitous in archaeological sites of the region. The inability to morphologically identify salmonid post-cranial remains to species, however, can limit our understanding of the ecological and cultural role different taxa played in the seasonal subsistence practices of Indigenous groups in the past. Here, we present a rapid, cost-effective ZooMS method to distinguish salmonid species based on collagen peptide mass-fingerprinting. Using modern reference material and an assemblage of 28 DNA-identified salmonid bones from the pre-contact Yup'ik site of Nunalleq, Western Alaska, we apply high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify a series of potential collagen peptide markers to distinguish Pacific salmon. We then confirm these peptide markers with a blind ZooMS analysis (MALDI-TOF-MS) of the archaeological remains. We successfully distinguish five species of anadromous salmon with this ZooMS approach, including one specimen that could not be identified through ancient DNA analysis. Our biomolecular identification of chum (43%), sockeye (21%), chinook (18%), coho (11%) and pink (7%), confirm the exploitation of all five available species of salmonid at Nunalleq.

AB - Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are ecological and cultural keystone species along the Northwest Coast of North America and are ubiquitous in archaeological sites of the region. The inability to morphologically identify salmonid post-cranial remains to species, however, can limit our understanding of the ecological and cultural role different taxa played in the seasonal subsistence practices of Indigenous groups in the past. Here, we present a rapid, cost-effective ZooMS method to distinguish salmonid species based on collagen peptide mass-fingerprinting. Using modern reference material and an assemblage of 28 DNA-identified salmonid bones from the pre-contact Yup'ik site of Nunalleq, Western Alaska, we apply high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify a series of potential collagen peptide markers to distinguish Pacific salmon. We then confirm these peptide markers with a blind ZooMS analysis (MALDI-TOF-MS) of the archaeological remains. We successfully distinguish five species of anadromous salmon with this ZooMS approach, including one specimen that could not be identified through ancient DNA analysis. Our biomolecular identification of chum (43%), sockeye (21%), chinook (18%), coho (11%) and pink (7%), confirm the exploitation of all five available species of salmonid at Nunalleq.

KW - Collagen peptide mass fingerprinting

KW - Nunalleq

KW - Pacific Salmon

KW - Yup'Ik

KW - ZooMS

U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2020.105116

DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2020.105116

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85080946881

VL - 116

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

SN - 0305-4403

M1 - 105116

ER -