Neolithic pottery and the biomolecular archaeology of lipids

Documenta Praehistorica

Volumn 41, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 195-224

  Budja, Mihael ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA   (Slovenia)

Author keywords

Biomarker revolution; Fatty acids; Lipids; Neolithic; Organic residues; Pottery; Stable isotopes

Indexed keywords

EID: 84924351791     PISSN: 1408967X     EISSN: 18542492     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.4312/dp.41.11     Document Type: Article

References (85)

1. Brown T., Brown K. 2011. Biomolecular Archaeology An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell. Chichester.
2. Braun D. 1983. Pots as Tools. In J. A. Moore, A. S. Keene (eds.), Archaeological Hammers and Theories. Academic Press. New York: 107-34.
3. Budja M., Ogrinc N., Zibrat Gasparic A., Potocnik D., Zigon D. And Mlekuz D. 2013. Transition to farming - Transition to milk culture: Mala Triglavca case study. Documenta Praehistorica 40: 97-118.
4. Charters S., Evershed R. P., Goad L. J., Leyden A., Blinkhorn P. W. And Denham V. 1993. Quantification and distribution of lipid in archaeological ceramics: implications for sampling potsherds for organic residue analysis and the classification of vessel use. Archaeometry 35(2): 211- 223.
5. Charters S., Evershed R. P., Blinkhorn P. W. And Denham V. 1995. Evidence for the mixing of fats and waxes in archaeological ceramics. Archaeometry 37:113-127.
6. Charters S., Evershed R. P., Quye A., Blinkhorn P. W. And Reeves V. 1997. Simulation experiments for determining the use of ancient pottery vessels: The behaviour of epicuticular leaf wax during boiling of a leafy vegetable. Journal of Archaeological Science 24: 1-7.
7. Colombini M. P., Modugno F. 2009. Organic Mass Spectrometry in Art and Archaeology. Wiley. Chichester.
8. Copley M. S., Rose P. J., Clapham A., Edwards D. N., Horton M. C. And Evershed R. P. 2001. Detection of palm fruit lipids in archaeological pottery from Qasr Ibrim, Egyptian Nubia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B 268: 593-597.
9. Copley M. S., Berstan R., Dudd S. N., Docherty G., Mukherjee A, Straker V., Payne S. And Evershed R. P. 2003. Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 100: 1524-1529.
10. Copley M. S., Berstan R., Dudd S. N., Aillaud S., Mukherjee A. J., Straker V. And Evershed R. P. 2005. Processing of milk products in pottery vessels through British prehistory. Antiquity 79(306): 895-908.
11. Copley M. S., Berstan R., Dudd S. N., Straker V., Payne S. And Evershed R. P. 2005a. Dairying in antiquity. I. Evidence from absorbed lipid residues dating to the British Iron Age. Journal of Archaeological Science 32: 485-503.
12. Copley M. S., Berstan R., Straker V., Payne S. And Evershed R. P.2005b. Dairying in antiquity. II. Evidence from absorbed lipid residues dating to the British Bronze Age. Journal of Archaeological Science 32: 505-521.
13. Copley M. S., Berstan R., Mukherjee A. J., Dudd S. N., Straker V., Payne S. And Evershed R. P. 2005c. Dairying in antiquity. III. Evidence from absorbed lipid residues dating to the British Neolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science 32: 523-546.
14. Craig O. E., Collins M. J. 2002. The Removal of Protein from Mineral Surfaces: Implications for Residue Analysis of Archaeological Materials. Journal of Archaeological Science 29(10): 1077-1082.
15. Craig O. E., Chapman J., Heron C., Willis L. H., Bartosiewicz L., Taylor G., Whittle A. And Collins M. 2005. Did the first farmers of central and eastern Europe produce dairy foods? Antiquity 79(306): 882-894.
16. Craig O. E., Forster M., Andersen H., Koch E., Crombe P., Milner N. J., Stern B., Bailey G. N. And Heron C. P. 2007. Molecular and isotopic demonstration of the processing of aquatic products in northern European prehistoric pottery. Archaeometry 49: 135-152.
17. Craig O. E., Saul H., Lucquin A., Nishida Y., Tache K., Clarke L., Thompson A., Altoft D. T., Uchiyama J., Ajimoto M., Gibbs K., Isaksson S., Heron C. P. And Jordan P. 2013. Earliest evidence for the use of pottery. Nature 496: 351- 354.
18. Cramp L. J. E., Jones J., Sheridan A., Smyth J., Whelton H., Mulville J., Sharples N. And Evershed R. P. 2014a. Immediate replacement of fishing with dairying by the earliest farmers of the northeast Atlantic archipelagos. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B 281: 20132372 281.
19. Cramp L. J. E., Evershed R. P., Lavento M., Halinen P., Mannermaa K., Oinonen M., Kettunen J., Perola M., Onkamo P. And Heyd V. 2014b. Neolithic dairy farming at the extreme of agriculture in northern Europe. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B 281: 20140819.
20. Cramp L. J. E., Evershed R. P. 2014. Reconstructing Aquatic Resource Exploitation in Human Prehistory using Lipid Biomarkers and Stable Isotopes. In H. D. Holland, K. K. Turekian (eds.), Treatise on Geochemistry: Archaeology and Anthropology. Vol. 14. Elsevier. Oxford: 319- 339.
21. De Niro M. J. 1987. Stable isotopy and archaeology. American Scientist 75(2): 182-191.
22. De Niro M. J., Epstein S. 1978. Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 42: 495-506.
23. Dudd S. N., Evershed R. P. 1998. Direct demonstration of milk as an element of archaeological economies. Science 282: 1478-1481.
24. Dudd S. N., Regert M. And Evershed R. P. 1998. Assessing microbial contributions to absorbed acyl lipids during laboratory degradations of fats and oils and pure TAGs absorbed into ceramic potsherds. Organic Geochemistry 29 (5-7): 1345-1354.
25. Dudd S. N., Evershed R. P. 1999. Evidence for varying patterns of exploitation of animal products in different prehistoric pottery traditions based on lipids preserved in surface and absorbed residues. Journal of Archaeological Science 26: 1473-82.
26. Eerkens J. W. 2007. Organic residue analysis and the decomposition of fatty acids in ancient potsherds. In H. Barnard, J. W. Eerkens (eds.), Theory and Practice in Archaeological Residue Analysis. British Archaeological Reports IS 1650. Archaeopress. Oxford: 90-98.
27. Evershed R. P. 1993. Biomolecular archaeology and lipids. World Archaeology 25(1): 74-93.
28. Evershed R. P 2008a. Experimental approaches to the interpretation of absorbed organic residues in archaeological ceramics. World Archaeology 40(1): 26-47.
29. Evershed R. P 2008b. Organic residue analysis in archaeology: The archaeological biomarker revolution. Archaeometry 50 (6): 895-924.
30. Evershed R. P 2009. Compound-specific Stable Isotopes in Organic Residue Analysis in Archaeology. In M. P. Colombini, F. Modugno (eds.), Organic Mass Spectrometry in Art and Archaeology. Wiley. Chichester: 391-430.
31. Evershed R. P., Heron C. And Goad L. J. 1990. Analysis of organic residues of archaeological origin by high-temperature gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Analyst 115(10): 1339-1342.
32. Evershed R. P., Heron C. And Goad L. J. 1991. Epicutilar wax components in potsherds as chemical indicators of leafy vegetables in ancient diets. Antiquity 65(248): 540-544.
33. Evershed R. P., Heron C., Charters S. And Goad L. J. 1992. Chemical analysis of organic residues in ancient pottery: methodological guidelines and applications. In R. White, H. Page (eds.), Organic Residues in Archaeology: Their Identification and Analysis. United Kingdom Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Archaeology Section. London: 11-25.
34. Evershed R. P., Arnot K. L., Collister J., Eglinton G. And Chartes S. 1994. Application of isotope ratio monitoring gas chromatographymass spectrometry to the analysis of organic residues of archeological origin. Analyst 119: 909-914.
35. Evershed R. P, Charters S. And Quye A. 1995. Interpreting lipid residues in archaeological ceramics: Preliminary results from laboratory simulations of vessel use and burial. Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings 352: 85-95.
36. Evershed R. P., Vaughan S. J., Dudd S. N. And Soles J. S. 1997a. Fuel for thought? Beeswax in lamps and conical cups from late Minoan Crete. Antiquity 71(274): 979-985.
37. Evershed R. P., Mottram H. R., Dudd S. N., Charters S., Stott A. W., Lawrence G. J., Gibson A. M., Conner A., Blinkhorn P. W. And Reeves V. 1997b. New Criteria for the identification of animal fats in archaeological pottery. Naturwissenschaften 84: 402-406.
38. Evershed R. P., Dudd S. N., Charters S., Mottram H., Stott A. W., Raven A., van Bergen P. F. And Bland H. A. 1999. Lipids as carriers of anthropogenic signals from prehistory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B 354: 19-31.
39. Evershed R. P., Dudd S. N., Copley M. S., Berstan R., Stott A. W., Mottram H., Buckley S. A. And Crossman Z. 2002. Chemistry of Archaeological Animal Fats. Accounts of Chemical Research 35: 660-668.
40. Evershed R. P. And 21 authors. 2008a. Earliest date for milk use in the Near East and southeastern Europe linked to cattle herding. Nature 455(7212): 528-531.
41. Evershed R. P, Copley M. S., Dickson L. And Hansel F. A. 2008b. Experimental evidence for the processing of marine animal products and other commodities containing polyunsaturated fatty acids in pottery vessels. Archaeometry 50(1): 101-113.
42. Gerbault P., Liebert A., Itan Y., Powell A., Currat M., Burger J., Swallow D. M. And Thomas M. G. 2011. Evolution of lactase persistence: An example of human niche construction. Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society. Series B 366: 863-877.
43. Gregg M. W., Banning E. B., Gibbs K. And Slater G. F. 2009. Subsistence practices and pottery use in Neolithic Jordan: molecular and isotopic evidence. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 937-946.
44. Gregg A., Slater G. F. 2010. New method for extraction, isolation and transesterification of free fatty acids from archaeological pottery. Archaeometry 52(5): 833-854.
45. Hart J. P., Lovis W. A., Schulenberg J. K. And Urquhart G. R. 2007. Paleodietary implications from stable carbon isotope analysis of experimental cooking residues. Journal of Archaeological Science 34: 804-813.
46. Hart J. P., Urquhart G. R., Feranec R. S. And Lovis W. A. 2009. Non-linear relationship between bulk δ13C and percent maize in carbonized cooking residues and the potential of false-negatives in detecting maize. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(10): 2206-2212.
47. Hart J. P., Lovis W. A., Jeske R. J. And Richards J. D. 2012. The potential of bulk δ13C on encrusted cooking residues as independent evidence for regional maize histories. American Antiquity 77(2): 315-325.
48. Hastorf C. A., De Niro M. J. 1985. Reconstruction of Prehistoric Plant Production and Cooking Practices by a New Isotope Method. Nature 315: 489-491.
49. Henrickson E. F. 1990. Investigating Ancient Ceramic Form and Use: Progress Report and Case Study. In W. D. Kingery (ed.), The Changing Roles of Ceramics in Society: 26, 000 B. P to the Present. Ceramics and Civilization. Vol. 5. American Ceramic Society. Westerville, Ohio: 83-117.
50. Henrickson E. F., McDonald M. M. A. 1983. Ceramic Form and Function: An Ethnographic Search and an Archaeological Application. American Anthropologist 85(3): 30-43.
51. Heron C., Evershed R. P. 1993. The Analysis of Organic Residues and the Study of Pottery Use. Archaeological Method and Theory 5: 247-284.
52. Itan Y., Powell A., Beaumont M. A., Burger J., Thomas M. G. 2009. The Origins of Lactase Persistence in Europe. PLoS Computational Biology 5(8): e1000491.
53. Kimpe K., Drybooms C., Schrevens E., Jacobs P. A., Degeest R. And Waelkens M. 2004. Assessing the relationship between form and use of different kinds of pottery from the archaeological site Sagalassos (southwest Turkey) with lipid analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 31(11): 1503-1510.
54. Leonardi M., Gerbault P., Thomas M. G. And Burger J. 2012. The evolution of lactase persistence in Europe. A synthesis of archaeological and genetic evidence. International Dairy Journal 22: 88-97.
55. Mirabaud S., Rolando C. And Regert M. 2007. Molecular criteria for discriminating adipose fat and milk from different species by nano ESIMS and MS/MS of their TAGs: Application to archaeological remains. Analytical Chemistry 79: 6182-6192.
56. Mottram H. R., Dudd S. N., Lawrence G. J., Stott A. W. And Evershed R. P. 1999. New chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable isotope approaches to the classification of degraded animal fats preserved in archaeological pottery. Journal of Chromatography A 833: 209-221.
57. Morton J. D., Schwarcz H. P. 2004. Paleodietary Implications from Stable Isotopic Analysis of Residues on Prehistoric Ontario Ceramics. Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 503-517.
58. Mukherjee A. J., Berstan R., Copley M. S., Gibson A. M. And Evershed R. P. 2007. Compound-specific stable carbon isotopic detection of pig product processing in British Late Neolithic pottery. Antiquity 81(313): 743-754.
59. Mukherjee A. J., Gibson A. M. And Evershed R. P. 2008. Trends in pig product processing at British Neolithic Grooved Ware sites traced through organic residues in potsherds. Journal of Archaeological Science 35: 2059- 2073.
60. Nagy D., Tomory G., Csanyi B., Bogacsi-Szabo E., Czibula A., Priskin K., Bede O., Bartosiewicz L., Stephen Downes C. And Rasko I. 2011. Comparison of Lactase Persistence Polymorphism in Ancient and Present-Day Hungarian Populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 145: 262-269.
61. Ogrinc N., Gams Petricic M., Zigon D., Zibrat Gasparic A. And Budja M. 2012. Pots and lipids: molecular and iso tope evidence of food processing at Maharski prekop. Documenta Praehistorica 39: 339-347.
62. Ogrinc et al. 2015 in prep.
63. Oudemans T. F. M., Boon J. J. 1993. Traces of Ancient Vessel Use: Investigating Prehistorie Usage of four Pot Types by Organic Residue Analysis using Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 26: 221-234.
64. Oudemans T. F. M., Boon J. J. 2007. A comparative study of extractable lipids in the shards and surface residual crusts of ceramic vessels from Neolithic and Roman Iron Age settlements in the Netherlands. In H. Barnard, J. Eerkens (eds.), Theory and Practice of Archaeological Residue Analysis. British Archaeological Reports IS 1650. Archaeopress. Oxford: 99-124.
65. Oudemans T. F. M., Kubiak-Martens L. 2012. Botanical and chemical characterisation of charred organic residues in ceramics. In B. I. Smit, O. Brinkkemper, J. P. Kleijne, R. C. G. M. Lauwerier and E. M. Theunissen (eds.), Late Neolithic Behavioural Variability in a Dynamic Landscape: A Kaleidoscope of Gathering at Keinsmerbrug (the Netherlands). Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands. Nederlandse Archeologische Rapporten 043. Amersfoort: 107-235.
66. Outram A. K., Stear N. A., Bendrey R., Olsen S., Kasparov A., Zaibert V., Thorpe N. And Evershed R. P. 2009. The Earliest Horse Harnessing and Milking. Science 323: 1332- 1335.
67. Peters K. E., Walters C. C. And Moldowan J. M. 2005. The Biomarker Guide I. Biomarkers and Isotopes in the Environment and Human History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
68. Pollard A. M., Batt C. M., Stern B. And Young S. M. M. 2007. Analytical Chemistry in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
69. Raemaekers D. C. M., Kubiak-Martens L. And Oudemans T. F. M. 2013. New food in old pots - charred organic residues in Early Neolithic ceramic vessels from Swifterbant, the Netherlands (4300-4000 calBC). Archaologisches Korrespondenzblatt 43(3): 315-334.
70. Raven A. M., van Bergen P. F., Stott A. W., Dudd S. N. And Evershed R. P. 1997. Formation of long-chain ketones in archaeological pottery vessels by pyrolysis of acyl lipids. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 40-41: 267- 285.
71. Reber E. A., Evershed R. 2004. Identification of maize in absorbed organic residues: A cautionary tale. Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 399-140.
72. Regert M., Bland H. A., Dudd S. N., Van Bergen P. F. And Evershed R. P. 1998. Free and bound fatty acid oxidation products in archaeological ceramic vessels. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B 265: 2027-2032.
73. Regert M. 2011. Analytical strategies for discriminating archeological fatty substances from animal origin. Mass Spectrometry Reviews 30: 177-220.
74. Rice P. 1987. Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press. Chicago.
75. Salque M. 2012. Was Milk Processed in these Ceramic Pots? In F. Feulner, P. Gerbault, R. Gillis, H. Hollund, R. Howcroft, M. Leonardi, A. Liebert, M. Raghavan, M. Salque, O. Sverrisdottir, M. Teasdale, N. van Doorn and C. Wright (eds.), May Contain Traces of Milk. Investigating the role of dairy farming and milk consumption in the European Neolithic. Lactose Persistence and Early Cultural History of Europe. LeCHE. The Univesity of York. Heslington: 127-142.
76. Salque M., Bogucki P. I., Pyzel J., Sobkowiak-Tabaka I., Grygiel R., Szmyt M. And Evershed R. P. 2013. Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium BC in northern Europe. Nature 493(7433): 522-525.
77. Schiffer M., Skibo J. 1987. Theory and Experiment in the Study of Technological Change. Current Anthropology 28 (5): 595-622.
78. Skibo J. M. 2013. Understanding Pottery Function. Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique. Springer. New York.
79. Spangenberg J. E., Jacomet J. And Schibler J. 2006. Chemical analyses of organic residues in archaeological pottery from Arbon Bleiche 3, Switzerland - evidence for dairying in the late Neolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science 33(1): 1-13.
80. Spangenberg J. E., Matuschik I., Jacomet S. And Schibler J. 2008. Direct evidence for the existence of dairying farms in prehistoric Central Europe (4th millennium BC). Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 44(2): 189- 200.
81. Stacey R. J. 2009. Organic residues: origins, analysis and scope - an overview for the archaeological ceramicist. The old potter's almanack 14(1): 1-8.
82. Stott A. W., Davies E., Evershed R. P. And Tuross N. 1997. Monitoring the routing of dietary and biosynthesized lipids through compound specific stable isotope ((δ13C) measurements at natural abundance. Naturwissenschaften 84: 82-86.
83. Soberl L., Sraka M., Horvat M., Zibrat Gasparic A., Evershed R. And Budja M. 2014. Neolithic and Eneolithic activities as inferred from organic residue analysis of pottery from Mala Triglavca, Moverna vas and Ajdovska jama, Slovenia. Documenta Praehistorica 41: 149-180.
84. Vogel J. C. 1993. Variability of carbon isotope fractionation during Photosynthesis. In J. R. Ehleringer, A. E. Hall, and G. D. Farquhar (eds.), Stable Isotopes and Plant Water- Relations. Academic Press San Diego: 29-46.
85. Warinner C., Tuross N. 2009. Alkaline cooking and stable isotope diet-tissue discrimination in swine: Archaeological implications. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 1690-1697.