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.

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: Jul 24, 2018
• 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.
• Contract Date: Jul 24, 2018