Early herding practices revealed through organic residue analysis of pottery from the early Neolithic rock shelter of Mala Triglavca, Slovenia

A collection of pottery from the early Neolithic site of Mala Triglavca was analysed with the aim of obtaining insights into vessel use and early animal domestication and husbandry practices in the Adriatic region. Total lipid extracts were submitted to gas chromatography (GC), GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-combustion-isotope ratio MS (GC-C-IRMS) in order to obtain molecular and stable carbon isotope signatures as the basis for determining the nature and origins of the residues. The extracts were dominated by degraded animal fats. The majority (70%) of the total lipid extracts displayed intact triacylglycerol distributions attributable to ruminant adipose and dairy fats, which were subsequently confirmed through C16:0 and C18:0 fatty acid δ13C values.Izbor keramičnih vzorcev iz zgodnje neolitskega najdišča Mala Triglavca je bil analiziran z namenom, da bi pridobili dodatne informacije o uporabi keramičnih posod ter značaju zgodnje živinoreje na Jadranskem prostoru. Lipidne ekstrakte vzorcev smo analizirali s pomočjo plinske kromatografije (GC), plinske kromatografije sklopljene z masno spektrometrijo (GC/MS) in plinske kromatografije sklopljene s sežigno masno spektrometrijo razmerij izotopov (GC-C-IRMS). V lipidnih ekstraktih so prevladovale živalske maščobe. V večini (70%) lipidnih ekstraktov so bile prisotne nespremenjene trigliceridne distribucije, ki jih lahko pripišemo tolščnim ter mlečnim maščobam prežvekovalcev. Lipidni izvor je bil nadalje potrjen z δ13C vrednostmi prostih maščobnih kislin C16:0 in C18:0

Wrappings of power: a woman’s burial in cattle hide at Langwell Farm, Strath Oykel

A well-preserved burial, discovered during peat clearing on Langwell Farm in Strath Oykel, Easter Ross, consisted of a stone cist that held the skeleton of a woman who had died in 2200–1960 cal BC. Although the cist contents were disturbed and partly removed before archaeological investigation took place, the burial rite can be interpreted to some extent. The woman, who died in her late 20s, had been wrapped in brown cattle hide, and wooden and woven objects were placed with her body. Periodic waterlogging created conditions that allowed the rare, partial preservation of the organic materials. Analysis of bone histology indicated that decay of the human remains had been arrested, either by deliberate mummification or waterlogging. The cist had been set into a low knoll on the valley floor and it may have been covered with a low cairn or barrow. This spot had been the site of a fire several hundred years earlier, and it may have been a node on a cross-country route linking east and west coasts in the Early Bronze Age. The use of animal hide suggests the creation and use of particular identities, linking the dead to ancestors and to powerful spiritual properties attributed to the natural world. The work was carried out for Historic Scotland under the Human Remains Call-off Contract