The significance of grinding may be less in
collagen which is already damaged and therefore
less prone to chain scission than the long rigid
fibres of modern minemlized collagen. We observed
less difference between shards and powders
prepared from archaeological material, but
the effect will rdate to the state of collagen
preservation. Grinding may not only reduce the
yield of insoluble 'collagen' extract from archaeological
bone, but may directly interfere with
analysis.