Work Interdisciplinary with Fingerprints from the Past

Find articles about the ZooMS method, the Next Generation Lab project, and the scientific results that teachers and students have already contributed to here.

Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) is a newly developed method used to identify the species of archaeological materials made from animals, such as skins, bones, or antlers.

With the ZooMS method, we process collagen peptides from the material enzymatically, purify the peptides, and subsequently analyse them using mass spectrometry.

Watch a video about the ZooMS method here.

Find a practical exercise about the ZooMS method here (in Danish).

Below, we have provided materials for three different exercises if you want to analyse ZooMS data yourself. The exercises are sorted by difficulty, with the easiest first and the most difficult last.

Data Analysis like in Fingerprints from the Past

With the two files below, you can analyse the same ZooMS data used in Fingerprints from the Past. The masses of the relevant peptides are indicated on the MS spectra, making it easy to work with.

MS spectra from ZooMS analysis of collagen from the leather shoe of a young Viking woman buried at Hvilehøj.

Reference sheet with selected peptide marker values for different species. Find the values from the reference sheet in the spectrum from the Viking shoe and reveal which animal the shoes of the Hvilehøj woman were made from.

Data Analysis - 3 Unknown Species

If you want to delve deeper into ZooMS data analysis, you can use the guide and result files below. Here, you will go through the entire analysis process – from the raw files generated from mass spectrometry analyses to the final species identification.

ZooMS data analysis - 3 unknown species: Analysis guide (in Danish)

Unknown_1.txt, Unknown_2.txt, Unknown_3.txt: Result files

Data Analysis – Explore the Large Dataset

With the files below, you can explore different types of data collected in Fingerprints from the Past and choose which sample you want to perform ZooMS data analysis on. For example, you can investigate whether morphological species identifications yield the same results as the ZooMS method, whether certain types of objects are made from leather from specific species, or if there is variation between replicates from the same object.

ZooMS data analysis – The large dataset: Analysis guide (in Danish)

Summary of results (in Danish/English)

Sample overview (in Danish)

Result files

Watch a video on how to work with micropipettes here (in Danish).

Find a description and materials for a complete history teaching unit combined with a visit to Fingerprints from the Past here (in Danish).

Subject Goals:

• Process data from qualitative and quantitative experiments and investigations.
• Analyse and discuss data from experiments and investigations, incorporating subject knowledge, sources of error, uncertainty, and biological variation.
• Address issues in interaction with other subjects.

Core Content:

• Proteins' overall structure and biological function.
• Enzyme functions and factors affecting enzyme activity.
• Chromatography.

Subject Goals:

• Conduct experiments and investigations with consideration for laboratory safety and risks associated with working with biological material.
• Process data from quantitative experiments.
• Address issues in interaction with other subjects.

Core Content:

• Overall structure, properties, and biological function of proteins.
• Chromatography.

Supplementary Material:

• New research and new biotechnological methods.

Subject Goals:

• Investigate issues and assess solutions using the subject's knowledge and methods, including in interaction with other subjects.

Subject Goals:

• Be able to handle experimental data using, among other things, IT tools to uncover and discuss mathematical relationships between physical quantities.
• Address issues in interaction with other subjects.

Core Content:

• Movement of charged particles in homogeneous electric and magnetic fields.

Subject Goals:

• Analyse examples of the interaction between people, nature, culture, and society over time.
• Reflect on the interaction between the past, present, and future, as well as on humans as both products and makers of history.
• Formulate historical issues and relate them to the students' own time.
• Address issues in interaction with other subjects.

Core Content:

• Changes in living conditions, technology, and production over time.
• Historical theories and methods.

Subject Goals:

• Process, analyse, and evaluate observations and results from experimental work.
• Address issues in interaction with other subjects.

Core Content:

• Overall structure of and selected relevant properties for proteins and enzymes.
• Qualitative and quantitative experimental methods, including chromatography.

Subject Goals:

• Translate between the four forms of representation: table, graph, formula, and verbal description.

Supplementary Material:

• Processing authentic data material.

Subject Goals:

• Conduct practical investigations and experiments both in the field and in the laboratory, taking safety into account.
• Collect, systematize, and process data using various forms of representation.
• Use models that qualitatively and quantitatively describe simple relationships in the environment and understand the models' possibilities and limitations.

Subject Content:

• Collaboration between the natural science subjects.
• Experimental work, both in the laboratory and in the field.
• Treatment of qualitative and quantitative empirical data.
• Demonstration of the relevance and application of natural science in society.

Subject Goals:

• Explain connections between societal changes and changes in social and cultural patterns.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the subject's identity and methods.

Core Content:

• Qualitative and quantitative methods, including designing and conducting investigations and systematically processing various types of data.

Subject Goals:

• Conduct minor empirical studies to produce knowledge.
• Apply the scientific method to produce knowledge.
• Address issues in interaction with other subjects.