Stewing on a theme of cuisine : biomolecular and interpretive approaches to culinary changes at the transition to agriculture

In the last two decades scientific techniques have opened up new avenues in archaeological studies of food. In particular, biomolecular approaches generate datasets with fundamentally different resolutions compared to traditional macro-remains. Equipped with these datasets, the authors probe the possibility for discussing new themes in food studies, through an investigation of cuisine. Following a critical review of theoretical approaches to subsistence and prestige food economies, they suggest that cuisine is a social expression of past food evaluation processes. By reconstructing pottery use at two sites that span the transition from foraging to farming in northern Europe (c.4,000 cal BC) using organic residue analysis, they suggest that understanding how food was valued is important in explaining the wider economic changes during this period. The foodstuffs that were carefully chosen to be processed in pottery fulfilled contingent social purposes beyond economic necessity

A systematic approach to the recovery and identification of starches from carbonised deposits on ceramic vessels

Starch granules are being successfully recovered from an increasing range of artefacts. Here we present the recovery of starches from carbonised ceramic 'foodcrusts' from late Mesolithic-early Neolithic residues at the site of Neustadt in northern Germany. A method for investigating background loading of residues with contaminant starches is proposed by comparing interior 'foodcrusts' versus exterior 'sooting', for the purposes of eliminating samples with insignificant quantities of grains from subsequent identification procedures. The classification of starches to plant taxon is traditionally achieved by manual observations and measurement of nominal and ratio morphological variables. Here, we present a method for the automated classification of granules, using software developed in-house. The results show that when multiple granules are considered, the species selected as modern reference examples can be classified to high levels of specificity. When applied to the archaeological samples we show that wild plant resources persist in importance across the transition to agriculture, with high proportions of granule forms consistent with acorn (Quercus sp.) occurring in all samples. Hazelnut (Corylus avellana) types are less well-represented suggesting it was not an important food in the context of pottery, and may have been over-represented in the repertoire of hunter-gatherer resources. Cereals are not represented in any of the samples, supporting the notion that their adoption may have been a slow process, occurring more gradually than for other domesticated foods, or that they were not initially processed in ceramic vessels

Phytoliths recovered from foodcrust on ceramic of EBK (Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture) and TRB (Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture) style.

<p>Phytoliths recovered from foodcrust on ceramic of EBK (Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture) and TRB (Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture) style.</p

Early contexts from which spices have been recovered, with photomicrographs of globular sinuate phytoliths recovered from the pottery styles illustrated.

<p>Showing, A) A map of Europe showing an inset of the study area and sites from which the pot residues were acquired;, including also the Near East and northern Africa indicating early contexts where spices have been recovered: a) Menneville, France (<i>Papaver somniferum</i> L.), b) Eberdingen, Germany (<i>Papaver somniferum</i> L.), c) Seeberg, Switzerland (<i>Papaver somniferum</i> L.), d) Niederwil, Switzerland (<i>Papaver somniferum</i> L.), e) Swiss Lake Villages, Switzerland (<i>Anethum graveolens</i> L.), f) Cueva de los Murcielags, Spain (<i>Papaver somniferum</i> L.), g) Hacilar, Turkey (<i>Capparis spinosa</i> L.), h) Tell Abu Hureya, Syria (<i>Caparis spinosa</i> L.), i) Tell ed-Der, Syria (<i>Coriandrum sativum</i> L. and <i>Cuminum cyminum</i> L.), j) Khafaji, Iraq (Cruciferae family), k) Tell Aswad, Syria (<i>Capparis spinosa</i> L.), l) Nahal Hemar Cave, Israel (<i>Coriandrum sativum</i> L.), m) Tutankhamun's tomb, Egypt (<i>Coriandrum sativum</i> L.), n) Tomb of Kha, Egypt (<i>Cuminum cyminum</i> L.), o) Tomb of Amenophis II, Egypt (<i>Anethum graveolens</i> L.), p) Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus (<i>Capparis spinosa</i> L.), q) Heilbronn, Germany (<i>Papaver somniferum</i> L.), r) Zeslawice, Poland (<i>Papaver somniferum</i> L.) [compiled using 8–17]. B) Hunter-gatherer pointed-based vessel (on the left) and Early Neolithic flat-based vessel (on the right). C) Scanning Electron Microscope image of a globular sinuate phytolith embedded in a food residue, D) optical light microscope image of modern <i>Alliaria petiolata</i> globular sinuate phytoliths, and E) optical light microscope image of archaeological globular sinuate phytolith examples.</p

A summary of the major lipid classes identified in the samples where globular sinuate phytoliths occurred, including carbon stable isotope values of major fatty acids.

<p>FFA – Free fatty acids, IFA – Isoprenoid fatty acids, APFA – ω-(o-alkylphenyl)fatty acids, MAG – monoacylglycerols, DAG – diacylglycerols.</p

Genomic sex identification of ancient pinnipeds using the dog genome

Determining the proportion of males and females in zooarchaeological assemblages can be used to reconstruct the diversity and severity of past anthropogenic impacts on animal populations, and can also provide valuable biological insights into past animal life-histories, behaviour and demography, including the effects of environmental change. However, such inferences have often not been possible due to the fragmented nature of the zooarchaeological record and a lack of clear diagnostic skeletal markers. In this study, we test whether the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) nuclear genome is suitable for genetic sex identification in pinnipeds. We initially tested 72 contemporary ringed seal (Pusa hispida) genomes with known sex, using the proportion of X chromosome DNA reads to chromosome 1 DNA reads (i.e. chrX/chr1-ratio) to distinguish males from females. This method was found to be highly reliable, with the ratios clustering in two clearly distinguishable sex groups, allowing 69 of the 72 individuals to be correctly identified according to sex. Secondly, to determine the lower limit of DNA reads required for this method, a subset of the ringed seal genome data was randomly down-sampled. We found a lower threshold of as few as 5000 mapped DNA sequence reads required for reliable sex identification. Finally, applying this standard, sex identification was successfully carried out on a broad set of ancient pinniped samples, including walruses (Odobenus rosmarus), grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus). All three species showed clearly distinct male and female chrX/chr1 ratio groups, providing sex identification of 42–98% of the samples, depending on species and sample quality. The approach described in this study should aid in untangling the putative effects of human activities and environmental change on populations of pinnipeds and other animal species.</p