Estimating the chance of success of archaeometric analyses of bone: UV-induced bone fluorescence compared to histological screening

Abstract For most archaeometric analyses on archaeological bone material, such as the determination of the isotopic composition or genetic approaches, an advanced degree of diagenetic alteration can make designated analysis impossible. Since the lack of a positive signal is mostly seen only after time consuming and cost intensive sample processing, the need for an easy-to-apply screening method that allows a pre-selection of samples containing well-preserved biomolecules is obvious. In this study, we visually determined the UV-induced autofluorescence of 76 horse bone cross-sections, all from prehistoric archaeological sites of varying environmental and chronological background. In order to…