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The identification of poultry processing in archaeological ceramic vessels using in-situ isotope references for organic residue analysis

Colonese, A.C.; Lucquin, A.; Guedes, E.P.; Thomas, R.; Best, J.; Fothergill, B.T.; Sykes, Naomi; Foster, A.; Miller, H.; Poole, K.; Maltby, M.; Von Tersch, M.; Craig, O.E.

The identification of poultry processing in archaeological ceramic vessels using in-situ isotope references for organic residue analysis Thumbnail


Authors

A.C. Colonese

A. Lucquin

E.P. Guedes

R. Thomas

J. Best

B.T. Fothergill

Naomi Sykes

A. Foster

HOLLY MILLER HOLLY.MILLER@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Assistant Professor in Zooarchaeology

K. Poole

M. Maltby

M. Von Tersch

O.E. Craig



Abstract

Poultry products are rarely considered when reconstructing pottery use through organic residue analysis, impinging upon our understanding of the changing role of these animals in the past. Here we evaluate an isotopic approach for distinguishing chicken fats from other animal products. We compare the carbon isotopes of fatty acids extracted from modern tissues and archaeological bones and demonstrate that archaeological bones from contexts associated with pottery provide suitable reference ranges for distinguishing omnivorous animal products (e.g. pigs vs. chickens) in pots. When applied to pottery from the Anglo-Saxon site of Flixborough, England, we succeeded in identifying residues derived from chicken fats that otherwise could not be distinguished from other monogastric and ruminant animals using modern reference values only. This provides the first direct evidence for the processing of poultry or their products in pottery. The results highlight the utility of ‘in-situ’ archaeological bone lipids to identify omnivorous animal-derived lipids in archaeological ceramic vessels.

Citation

Colonese, A., Lucquin, A., Guedes, E., Thomas, R., Best, J., Fothergill, B., …Craig, O. (2017). The identification of poultry processing in archaeological ceramic vessels using in-situ isotope references for organic residue analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 78, 179-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.12.006

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 1, 2016
Online Publication Date Jan 13, 2017
Publication Date 2017-02
Deposit Date Jul 24, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Archaeological Science
Print ISSN 0305-4403
Electronic ISSN 1095-9238
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 78
Pages 179-192
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.12.006
Keywords Poultry; Lipid; Stable isotopes; Organic residue analysis; Anglo-Saxon pottery; GC-MS; GC-c-IRMS
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/843475
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440316301820?via%3Dihub
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: The identification of poultry processing in archaeological ceramic vessels using in-situ isotope references for organic residue analysis; Journal Title: Journal of Archaeological Science; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.12.006; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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