New Criteria for the Identification of Animal Fats Preserved in Archaeological Pottery

Evershed, R. P.; Mottram, Hazel R.; Dudd, Stephanie N.; Charters, S.; Stott, Andrew; Lawrence, G. J.; Gibson, Alex; Conner, Albert Z.; Blinkhorn, Paul; Reeves, Valerie B

doi:10.1007/s001140050417

Cited by 197 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This is due to the processes of degradation and dissolution that occur during burial and, in some cases, alteration of the fats during the lifetime of the vessel, for example during cooking. These processes tend to deplete diagnostic biomarker compounds that are characteristic of particular fats (3)(4)(5)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67) preventing the unique identification of degraded fatty material.…”

Section: Identification Of Fatty Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Work by Evershed's group in Bristol during the 1990s estabilished that it was possible to distinguish different degraded fats by measuring the carbon stable isotope ratios, expressed as δ 13 C values, of C 16:0 and C 18:0 (3,32,64,66). Modern reference fats fall within well-defined areas on a scatter plot of δ 13 C 18:0 against δ 13 C 16:0 , reflecting the different metabolic processes by which different organisms synthesize these two acids (5,32,68).…”

Section: Identification Of Fatty Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

Steele

2013

ACS Symposium Series

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The analysis of organic residues from archaeological materials has become increasingly important to our understanding of ancient diet, trade and technology. Residues from diverse contexts have been retrieved and analysed from the remains of food, medicine and cosmetics to hafting material on stone arrowheads, pitch and tar from shipwrecks, and ancient manure from soils. Research has brought many advances in our understanding of archaeological, organic residues over the past two decades. Some have enabled very specific and detailed interpretations of materials preserved in the archaeological record. However there are still areas where we know very little, like the mechanisms at work during the formation and preservation of residues, and areas where each advance produces more questions rather than answers, as in the identification of degraded fats. This chapter will discuss some of the significant achievements in the field over the past decade and the ongoing challenges for research in this area.1341280_File000001_20903114.docPrinted 7/19/2013 2

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Section: Identification Of Fatty Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Identification Of Fatty Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

Steele

2013

ACS Symposium Series

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“…Degraded animal fats, recognized by the high abundances of n-hexadecanoic (C 16:0 ) and n-octadecanoic (C 18:0 ) acids, are preserved widely within archaeological pottery, particularly those vessels involved in the preparation, consumption, and storage of food (6)(7)(8). Our recent research has shown that a range of chemical criteria, namely saturated fatty acid compositions, double-bond positions, triacylglycerol distributions, and ␦…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain

Copley

Berstan

Dudd

et al. 2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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428

414

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Domesticated animals formed an important element of farming practices in prehistoric Britain, a fact revealed through the quantity and variety of animal bone typically found at archaeological sites. However, it is not known whether the ruminant animals were raised purely for their tissues (e.g., meat) or alternatively were exploited principally for their milk. Absorbed organic residues from pottery from 14 British prehistoric sites were investigated for evidence of the processing of dairy products. Our ability to detect dairy fats rests on the observation that the ␦ 13 C values of the C18:0 fatty acids in ruminant dairy fats are Ϸ2.3‰ lower than in ruminant adipose fats. This difference can be ascribed to (i) the inability of the mammary gland to biosynthesize C 18:0; (ii) the biohydrogenation of dietary unsaturated fatty acids in the rumen; and (iii) differences (i.e., 8.1‰) in the ␦ 13 C values of the plant dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates. The lipids from a total of 958 archaeological pottery vessels were extracted, and the compound-specific ␦ 13 C values of preserved fatty acids (C16:0 and C18:0) were determined via gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The results provide direct evidence for the exploitation of domesticated ruminant animals for dairy products at all Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age settlements in Britain. Most significantly, studies of pottery from a range of key early Neolithic sites confirmed that dairying was a widespread activity in this period and therefore probably well developed when farming was introduced into Britain in the fifth millennium B.C. There is little doubt that domesticated cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were an integral part of early Neolithic farming in Britain. However, difficulties in establishing whether they were exploited for dairy products, wool, and traction, the so-called ''secondary products'' (1), has proved to be a major hurdle in our understanding of the evolution of prehistoric economies. The recognition by early farmers that animals could be reared for their milk would have had major impacts on diet, health, and subsistence economy (2). As such, it is of great archaeological and scientific interest to determine how these domesticates were utilized in antiquity: were they valued primarily as a meat source, were they exploited for their ''secondary products'' such as milk, or were different economic strategies used to maximize the production of both commodities? Evidence for dairying in prehistory is currently limited to certain specialist vessels, e.g., putative cheese strainers (3), and evidence from faunal remains of herds that are suggestive of dairying (4, 5). However, direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying at prehistoric sites anywhere in the world is currently lacking.Degraded animal fats, recognized by the high abundances of n-hexadecanoic (C 16:0 ) and n-octadecanoic (C 18:0 ) acids, are preserved widely within archaeological pottery, particularly those vessels involved in the preparation, consumption, and...

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“…and only traces of triacylglycerols (Evershed 1993;Evershed et al 1997a;Dudd and Evershed 1998). Barnard et al (2007), however, have recently suggested that microorganisms living off residues can introduce β-sitosterol into residues resulting from the preparation of animal products.…”

Section: Using Lipid Distribution and Biomarkers To Identify Archaeolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeological Data Recovery at Fish Creek Slough Site (41DL436)

Nickels¹

2015

ITA

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The Fish Creek Slough site (41DL436) is a well stratified, multi-component, open campsite situated on an alluvial terrace on the west bank of Fish Creek in Dallas County, Texas. Discovered in 2005, the site contains an abundance of faunal material, charcoal, and burned clay within multiple, discrete stratified zones. The site was evaluated by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) as eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Because the site was within the right-of-way for a planned road and bridge construction project, and as directed by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, TxDOT elected to undertake archaeological data recovery excavations to mitigate adverse effects to the site.In October of 2010, AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. conducted archaeological data recovery excavations at the site under TxDOT contract no. 579-09-SA006. Mechanical stripping was conducted within a 6 x 20-m trench in 3-5-cm cuts down to 200 centimeters below the modern ground surface and exposed 43 burned zones, other features, and artifact concentrations. In addition to 285 cubic meters of soil removed mechanically, an additional 17.75 cubic meters was excavated within 107 hand-dug units. Collected and analyzed items included more than 8,700 faunal specimens, 43 pieces of chipped stone, and 206 fire-cracked rocks. Samples were collected for macrobotanical, magnetic susceptibility, pH, carbon, and malacology, pollen, diatom, phytolith, and ostracod assays and selected specimens of fire-cracked rock were analyzed for the presence of starches and lipids.Thirty-nine radiocarbon dates accepted as valid helped define four discrete occupational components with the earliest occupation probably occurring as early as AD 1025, and the last occupation probably as late as AD 1865. Geoarchaeological analyses show that the stratigraphic sequence accumulated rapidly, separating and preserving the discrete occupations in good context. Analysis of the exceptionally robust and well-preserved faunal assemblage provides evidence for interpretation of change through time in social structure, site spatial occupations, and diet and subsistence. Of special note, within the occupation zones dating to the Protohistoric and Historic periods, metal cut marks on bone suggest an increased reliance on European-introduced technology.

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New Criteria for the Identification of Animal Fats Preserved in Archaeological Pottery

Cited by 197 publications

References 2 publications

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain

Archaeological Data Recovery at Fish Creek Slough Site (41DL436)

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