Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 17 June 1983:
Vol. 220. no. 4603, pp. 1269 - 1271
DOI: 10.1126/science.220.4603.1269
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Prehistoric Blood Residues: Detection on Tool Surfaces and Identification of Species of Origin

THOMAS H. LOY 1

1 British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria, British Columbia V8V 1X4

Blood residues from several animal species have been discovered on the surfaces of chert, basalt, and obsidian prehistoric tools (1000 to 6000 years old) from open-air sites along the western coast and in the northern boreal forest of Canada. A screening test has been developed to detect residual blood. Hemoglobin has been crystallized from the residues, and the species of origin determined.

Submitted on December 14, 1982


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
An archaeology of the instant?: Action and narrative in microscopic archaeological residue analyses.
M. Haslam (2006)
Journal of Social Archaeology 6, 402-424
   Abstract »    PDF »
Heme compounds in dinosaur trabecular bone.
M. H. Schweitzer, M. Marshall, K. Carron, D. S. Bohle, S. C. Busse, E. V. Arnold, D. Barnard, J. R. Horner, and J. R. Starkey (1997)
PNAS 94, 6291-6296
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Identifying species of origin from prehistoric blood residues.
S. Remington (1994)
Science 266, 298-300
   PDF »
Response.
T. H. Loy (1994)
Science 266, 299-300
   PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)