EAA 2023: Abstract

The analysis of lipids preserved in the clay pores of archaeological pottery is a powerful method for investigating pottery function and past diet. The use of state-of-the-art analytical methods, including chromatographic, spectrometric and isotopic methods, allows for the identification and characterisation of terrestrial and aquatic animal fats, plant oils and waxes, that arise from the cooking of animal and plant products in ceramic vessels.

Here we investigate > 340 pottery fragments from 6 archaeological sites across Saxony spanning around four millennia of occupation, from the Early Neolithic (Linearbandkeramik) until the Iron Age. Using lipid analyses of pottery sherds, we explore diachronic change in pottery use, subsistence practices, herding strategies and freshwater resource exploitation. In particular, lipids provide unique insight into the exploitation of wild and domesticated resources in the region, where faunal remains are usually ill-preserved. This study provides a stepping stone in the construction of regional climate records using hydrogen isotopic analyses from animal fats extracted from pottery and the direct 14C dating of pottery lipids.

Organic residue analysis, Prehistory, Animal fats, Fish, Milk, Dairy products

Oral presentation

  Abstract (PDF)

Melanie Roffet-Salque²

Isabel Wiltshire²
Charlie Maule²
Iman Abdelgani²
Matthias Conrad¹
Matthias Halle¹
Saskia Kretschmer¹
Germo Schmalfuß¹
Sabine Wolfram³
Harald Stäuble¹