Pastoralist Foodways Recorded in Organic Residues from Pottery Vessels of Modern Communities in Samburu, Kenya

Abstract

Organic residue analyses of archaeological ceramics can provide important insights into ancient foodways. To date, however, there has been little critical reflection on how lipid residues might (or might not) reflect dietary practices or subsistence strategies more generally. A combination of ethnoarchaeological research and chemical and isotopic analyses of lipid residues from pottery made and used by modern Samburu pastoralists in northern Kenya was undertaken to supplement the interpretive framework used in archaeological investigations. A total of 63 potsherds were collected from various contexts, including settlement sites and rockshelters, and analysed using gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). The results showed that the free fatty acids, palmitic (C 16:0 ) and stearic (C 18:0 ), dominated the lipid profiles, with extremely broad ranges of δ 13 C values. The majority of the Δ 13 C values from Samburu pots suggest that vessels were intensively used to process ruminant carcass products, yet the Samburu economy is not, in fact, meat-based at all. Despite an overall reliance on dairy products, milk is rarely processed in ceramic vessels, largely due to cultural prohibitions. Surprisingly, a number of vessels from one site, Naiborkeju Hill, were used to process dairy products. Compound-specific radiocarbon dating of lipids from these sherds suggests that this pottery originated from an earlier period, demonstrating a possible shift in ceramic use by pastoralist communities in this region over time. The overall conclusion is that lipid residues may not necessarily reflect, in a simple way, the day-to-day consumption or the perceived relative importance of different foodstuffs. In the Samburu case, lipid residues reflect the functional and ideological suitability of ceramics for processing only certain types of food (meat/fat/bones), despite an overall reliance on milk. These conclusions are important when considering the origins and development of African pastoralism, for example, as interpreted from the archaeological record.

Organic residue analysis shows sub-regional patterns in the use of pottery by Northern European hunter–gatherers

“…These differences can, therefore, be crudely described as sub-regional 'cuisines'. From an anthropological perspective, this observation is perhaps of no surprise, as all documented hunter-gatherers practice some form of culturally specific custom for food preparation and consumption, often deploying specific material culture for defined tasks [107][108][109]. Whether such 'culinary traits' can be used to help understand the dispersal dynamics of pottery technology is debatable.…”

The Transition from Hunting–Gathering to Food Production in the Gamo Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

“…Furthermore, the use-alteration analysis of the pottery and the faunal analysis suggest that Mota Cave inhabitants had culinary practices that differed from those inhabiting Tuwatey Cave (Table 18). Usealteration analysis is beginning to be more widely utilized in African archaeology (e.g., Arthur 2002Arthur , 2003Arthur , 2014Dunne et al 2012Dunne et al , 2018Reid and Young 2000). Ethnoarchaeological studies of ceramic use have confirmed specific use-alteration patterns, such as carbon deposits and surface abrasions on ceramic vessels that represent specific types of food processing (e.g., Arthur 2014; Skibo 1992Skibo , 2013.…”

Molecular and isotopic evidence for milk, meat, and plants in prehistoric eastern African herder food systems

“…Lipid residues demonstrate that herders at the Luxmanda and Ngamuriak settlement sites used their pottery predominantly for processing ruminant carcass products, and to a lesser extent for processing milk. Comparison with lipid residues extracted from ceramics used by heavily milk-reliant Samburu pastoralists in northern Kenya today revealed a broadly similar pattern (38). In Samburu, this pattern reflects container choices, rather than degree of reliance on milk in the diet (9).…”