Lipid Analysis of Pottery from the Early Bronze Age II Burials at Ayia Triada Cave, Southern Euboea, Greece: Evidence for Ritualized Consumption?

Abstract

Ayia Triada Cave excavations revealed multiple human burials and evidence for feasting in Early Bronze Age (EBA) Greece. Associated pottery was subjected to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to investigate feasting in ritual contexts. Reported here are the first organic residue results from 69 sherds. Abundant residues were preserved, revealing heavy vessel use and multi-resource mixtures, and echoing domestic consumption patterns. This research also identifies possible functions and associated products of certain EBA vessel types, for example, sauceboats. The linking of ordinary foods and vessels to an important rite of passage, like death, reinforces daily food practices, social relationships, and collective identity.

Shared technologies for pottery and acorns processing? Multidisciplinary and functional approach to modular kilns

“…Cholesterol is a biomarker for animal fats, but its finding in conjunction with squalene could be attributed to a contamination with skin lipids (Evershed 1993;Heron et al 2010;Vykukal et al 2021;Whelton et al 2021). Therefore, the small peaks of both cholesterol and squalene are typical of unprotected human contact with the sherds (manipulation without gloves has been confirmed) and their presence should not be valued.…”

Toward an understanding of the exchange in ancient scented oils through organic residue analysis of Bronze Age Near Eastern ceramic bottles by GC‐MS

“…After removing about 0.5 mm of each fragment's surface to avoid contamination from soil and fingerprints, a sample weighing about 4 g was taken from the rim and body parts of the artefacts, which were more likely to contain ORs (Copley et al, 2003;Eerkens, 2005;Evershed et al, 2002Evershed et al, , 2008Leitch et al, 2016;Olsson & Isaksson, 2008;Regert, 2011;Vykukal et al, 2021). The sample size (4 g for two extraction) and the injection volume (5 μl) were selected in order to increase the detection of the molecules with low concentrations in the samples.…”

Investigation of consumption practices in the early Mycenaean period through biomolecular analyses: The case of the Ayios Vasileios North Cemetery (Laconia)

“…In the Aegean, vase offerings have often attracted the attention and interest of archaeologists, but have rarely been studied using molecular techniques. Amongst the few exceptions, the study by Vykukal, Mavridis and Tankosić (2021) in ceramic vessels from the Ayia Triada cave in Euboea dated to the Early Bronze Age analysed a range of vessel types in order to investigate feasting in ritual contexts. Plant and animal lipids, resins from Pinaceae sp.…”