Ancient eland collagen found in 60,000-year-old South African ochre

Researchers have detected common eland collagen in an ochre-rich archaeological surface dating to about 60,000 years ago at the Kilpdrift Complex in South Africa. The team from Kyushu University, the University of Bergen and the University of Copenhagen reported the finding in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, describing it as biomolecular evidence that animal-derived material was associated with ochre use during the Middle Stone Age. The researchers proposed two possible explanations: animal-derived materials were deliberately mixed with the ochre, or ochre-treated eland hides were present at the site.

The Kilpdrift Complex lies within the coastal cliffs of the De Hoop Nature Reserve and is a Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological site. Investigators analysed archived sediment samples taken from the ochre-rich surface in an experimental palaeoproteomic study. Because the recovered proteins were not readily visible, the researchers used molecular analysis to identify their animal source. The analysis found type I collagen assigned to the common eland, Taurotragus oryx, providing evidence that eland material had been associated with the archaeological deposit.

Proteins were extracted from the sediment and separated and analysed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, commonly abbreviated LC-MS/MS. This method breaks extracted proteins into measurable peptide fragments. The resulting fragments were compared with large protein databases and a custom collagen reference database to determine the species of origin. The eland identification was based on this biomolecular comparison, allowing researchers to detect animal material that could not be characterized by visual examination of the sediment alone.

The successful recovery of identifiable collagen from archaeological sediment demonstrates a potential role for palaeoproteomics at sites where ancient DNA rarely survives. Ancient proteins can therefore supplement other forms of archaeological analysis by revealing biological traces associated with otherwise inconspicuous deposits. In this case, the method recovered eland collagen from a challenging African environment and documented an association between animal material and ochre use. The study does not establish the precise origin of the collagen, whether it was intentionally added to the ochre, or whether the deposit reflects a specific technical or symbolic activity.

Evidence of organic components mixed with ochre has been extremely rare in Africa, according to the research report, making the eland collagen an unusual addition to the record of Middle Stone Age behaviour. The authors interpret the association as evidence of the complex technical and possibly symbolic behaviours of early Homo sapiens, but they acknowledge that the protein evidence alone cannot distinguish between deliberate mixing and the presence of ochre-treated hides. Further archaeological context would be needed to determine the sequence of events that created the deposit and the function of the ochre and animal material. The principal demonstrated result is therefore the identification of common eland collagen in approximately 60,000-year-old ochre-rich sediment through palaeoproteomic analysis.

Subject of Research: Palaeoproteomic identification of eland collagen associated with Middle Stone Age ochre use in South Africa

Article Title: Invisible eland identified from 60,000-year-old ochre-rich sediment

Article References: Invisible eland identified from 60,000-year-old ochre-rich sediment. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

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DOI: Not provided

Keywords: palaeoproteomics, ancient collagen, common eland, ochre, Middle Stone Age, archaeology, mass spectrometry, South Africa, Kilpdrift Complex, Invisible, eland, identified