Advancements in archaeological sciences through innovative scientific techniques applied to ancient human remains have increasingly been transforming the study of the past. Destructive analyses of bioarchaeological or palaeontological specimens such as dental histology, isotopic or elemental analysis of dental mineralised tissues, 14C dating, proteomic analysis or ancient DNA are increasingly being applied to obtain ever more refined past life histories. In tandem with spatially-resolved analyses, mineralised dental tissues, especially enamel, have proven to be ideal archives. The main concern with any of these techniques is the need for some level of destructive sampling and thus damage to specimens. In compliance with the ALARA (As Low [damage] As Reasonably Achievable) principle, we present a standardised protocol (the NOWA protocol) for the optimisation, in terms of minimising the destructive approach, of tooth sampling for histology, biomolecular and biogeochemical analyses. The NOWA protocol enables the collection of multiple datasets through optimised sampling of a single dental specimen, ensuring the preservation of most of the tooth and, to a substantial degree, its morphology. Overall, this approach balances the significant scientific insights from such investigations against the inevitable conservation requirements of valuable archaeological and palaeontological specimens, thus maximising the feasibility of future analyses of individual specimens that need to be evaluated on a case-to-case basis.

中文翻译：

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NOthing goes toWAste （NOWA）：优化老牙采样的协议


考古科学的进步通过应用于古代人类遗骸的创新科学技术，越来越多地改变了对过去的研究。对生物考古学或古生物学标本的破坏性分析，如牙齿组织学、牙齿矿化组织的同位素或元素分析、14C 测年、蛋白质组学分析或古代 DNA，越来越多地被应用于获得更精细的过去生活史。结合空间分辨分析，矿化牙组织，尤其是牙釉质，已被证明是理想的档案。这些技术的主要问题是需要一定程度的破坏性采样，从而损坏试样。根据 ALARA（尽可能低 [损害] 合理实现）原则，我们提出了一个标准化协议（NOWA 协议），用于优化用于组织学、生物分子和生物地球化学分析的牙齿取样，以最大限度地减少破坏性方法。NOWA 协议可以通过对单个牙科标本进行优化采样来收集多个数据集，从而确保保留大部分牙齿，并在很大程度上保留其形态。总体而言，这种方法平衡了此类调查中的重要科学见解与珍贵考古和古生物学标本不可避免的保存要求，从而最大限度地提高了未来分析单个标本的可行性，这些标本需要根据具体情况进行评估。