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Organic residue analysis has heen performed on 62 reconstructed vessels from a single archaeological site ( Raunds, Northamptonshire. U . K . ) . In order to establish regions of lipid accumulation within a vessel, sherds were sampled from different purrs .f' u vessel, ,for e.xample base. body and rim, andsubmitred lo lipidc,.rtractionprocedure.s. The techniques c, f high-temperature gas chromatography (GC) and CClmass spectr0metr.y (GCIMS) were then used to analyse the sherd lipid extracts. The quantitative results obtained show diflerential accumulation and preservation of' lipid in oarious parts of the same vessel. This latter observation has serious implicationsfi,r the sumpling ofpotsherdsfor organic residue analysis. Furthermore, the amount ~fah.sorbed lipid varies quite considerably between vessel types. On this basis. a new method is proposedfor classifying vessel use hy comparing the concentration of lipid present in dijferent parts of individual vessels.

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Lipid residues from two Late Saxonlearly medieval ceramic vessels recovered from excavations at West Cotton, Raunds, Northamptonshire, U.K., have been investigated by high-temperature gas chromatography (GC) and GClmass spectrometry (GCIMS) . The solvent extracts of sherds sampled from different points on each vessel (i.e., base, body and rim) were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively and compounds were identijied which were characteristic of beeswax and animal fat. Furthermore, by determining the sites of accumulation of the specijic lipid types and their concentrations in different parts of the vessels it can be inferred that the beeswax was added to the vessels prior to the addition of the fat. It was concluded that the two vessels performed different functions in antiquity.

A combination of micro‐analytical techniques, including thin layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC), and combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), was employed to study the lipid composition of an adhesive used to repair an Ecton ware jar, recovered from Roman sediments of the River Nene at West Cotton (Rounds, Northamptonshire, U.K.). GC of the total lipid extract of the adhesive showed a complex pattern which was difficult to interpret. TLC was used to fractionate the extract. The fractions were then trimethylsilylated and submitted to GC and GC/MS. Betulin, lupeol, lupenone, allobetul‐2‐ene, and several other pentacyclic triterpenoid compounds were shown to be present in the ancient material. The similarities between the lipid compositions of the adhesive and of contemporary birch bark tar and a birch bark total lipid extract led to the conclusion that the adhesive was derived largely from birch bark, thus providing the first firm evidence for the use of birch bark tar in ancient Britain.