Optimization of extraction conditions of collagen from bone samples in radiocarbon dating method and its identification by means of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Radiocarbon dating has been considered as an important method for archaeological, geological, ethnological studies, and other similar studies using bone samples. Generally, dry bone is composed of 80% inorganic components and 20% collagen, giving good results in radiocarbon analyses and it is applied in most of the credible radioactive dating laboratories. In the present research, the extraction condition of collagen from bone samples has been studied and the optimized conditions as Ph, treatment duration and the amount of extraction steps for elimination of inorganic contaminants in samples are presented. The results have shown that for the extraction process, three steps is essential to obtain the pure collagen. They are: acidic-extraction, alkali c-extraction and aqueous-acidic extraction phases. Then, the main amino acids in collagen are identified by the sue of high performance liquid chromatography and the results have been compared with the reference sample