‘What to cook and how to cook it’: Understanding the interplay of subsistence, ceramic technology, and local environments in the emergence of pottery in northeast Asia through residues

Since the early 2000’s, archaeological excavations in the Nenjiang River Basin have led to the discovery of some of the oldest pottery assemblages in northeast China. The main objective of the DPhil research presented here is to understand what role vessel technology played in human lives over an extended time span regarding diets, food preferences, and human environmental interactions in this region. Pottery analysed in this thesis comes from the site of Houtaomuga 后套木嘎 located in the Lower Nen River Valley on the Song-Nen Plain, Jilin province northeast China. Using molecular and isotopic analysis, this thesis characterised lipids extracted from archaeological pottery using advanced analytical methodologies to understand pottery use at the initial implementation of the technology and over the course of the Neolithic. Results of lipid residue analysis presented as a part of this research were also described in context with other regions in northeast Asia, such as Russia’s Far East and Japan, which also have pottery bearing hunter-gather sites from the Neolithic which are contemporaneous. Before turning to the analysis of the archaeological material from Houtaomuga, this thesis undertook a method optimisation to understand the efficiency and limitations of current techniques. This method development ensures that the method of analysis was adequate to answer proposed research questions prior to sampling and will improve upon methods for lipid residue analysis which are currently standard practice within archaeological science. As a result, this thesis presents the first extensive application of non-destructive supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of ancient lipid residues followed by isotopic characterisation. Results indicate this novel method workflow is comparable to current methods which are highly destructive to ceramic artifacts. By using this workflow, it was determined that pottery at Houtaomuga was primarily used for cooking aquatic molluscs and C3 plant resources. While other proxies indicate that human diets at Houtaomuga were highly diverse, pottery use was highly specified for all four phases of Neolithic occupation of the site, suggesting people preferentially chose certain foods or dish types to prepare in vessels

EMERGENCE OF POTTERY IN THE NENJIANG RIVER BASIN (NORTHEAST CHINA) DURING THE EARLY NEOLITHIC: UNDERSTANDING THEIR USE THROUGH RESIDUES

International audienceSince the early 2000’s, archaeological excavations in the Nenjiang river basin have led tothe discovery of some of the oldest pottery assemblages in Northeast China, notably atthe sites of Houtaomuga and Shuangta (13.000 – 7.500 cal BP). These ceramics areimportant as they present the emergence of ceramic technology in the region. It hasbeen hypothesized that this is the result of a dietary shift which relies more on fishing.One way to approach this hypothesis and the issue of the relationship between potteryuse and changes in subsistence and food preparation methods is through the analysis oforganic residues trapped in these sherds. The research presented here examinesabsorbed lipid residues from 200 total pottery sherds from the Houtaomuga andShuangta sites to shed light on pottery use among hunter-gatherers in this region. Thesesamples come from Houtaomuga phase 1 through 4 and Shuangta Phase 1 and 2, in anattempt to understand pottery use over an extended period of site occupation. Residueshave been extracted from the sherds using a method that does not require the sherds tobe damaged and allows for more organics to be recovered. Extracts obtained have beensubsequently characterized and quantified using gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GC-MS). This paper will discuss the results of these analyses, focusing inparticular on what they can tell us about changes in subsistence and food preparationpractices over time

EMERGENCE OF POTTERY IN THE NENJIANG RIVER BASIN (NORTHEAST CHINA) DURING THE EARLY NEOLITHIC: UNDERSTANDING THEIR USE THROUGH RESIDUES

International audienceSince the early 2000’s, archaeological excavations in the Nenjiang river basin have led tothe discovery of some of the oldest pottery assemblages in Northeast China, notably atthe sites of Houtaomuga and Shuangta (13.000 – 7.500 cal BP). These ceramics areimportant as they present the emergence of ceramic technology in the region. It hasbeen hypothesized that this is the result of a dietary shift which relies more on fishing.One way to approach this hypothesis and the issue of the relationship between potteryuse and changes in subsistence and food preparation methods is through the analysis oforganic residues trapped in these sherds. The research presented here examinesabsorbed lipid residues from 200 total pottery sherds from the Houtaomuga andShuangta sites to shed light on pottery use among hunter-gatherers in this region. Thesesamples come from Houtaomuga phase 1 through 4 and Shuangta Phase 1 and 2, in anattempt to understand pottery use over an extended period of site occupation. Residueshave been extracted from the sherds using a method that does not require the sherds tobe damaged and allows for more organics to be recovered. Extracts obtained have beensubsequently characterized and quantified using gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GC-MS). This paper will discuss the results of these analyses, focusing inparticular on what they can tell us about changes in subsistence and food preparationpractices over time

Catholic-Confucian Mortuary Practices in a Rural Manchurian Cemetery

International audienceCatholic missionaries were active among rural populations in Manchuria, in northeast China, around the turn of the 20th century. Their presence influenced everything from the role of women in religious and family life, to the adoption of new material culture, to local burial customs. This investigation of the Pianliancheng cemetery in Jilin Province, in use from the 1890s to the 1930s, reveals the material and embodied traces of this history. Archaeological, bioarchaeological, and historical evidence for cultural hybridization and transnational connections are presented. Specific findings include the history of individual Catholic priests in the mission, the hybridization of Catholic and Confucian burial practices by the Chinese converts, material connections to Chinese immigrant communities abroad, the labor burden and nutritional status of various members of the community, the continuation of foot binding in rural Manchuria, and the influence of conversion on gender roles and family life.Vers le début du 20ème siècle, les missionnaires catholiques étaient actifs au sein des populations rurales de Mandchourie, dans le Nord-Est de laChine. Leur présence a exercé une influence considérable, notamment sur le rôle des femmes au sein de la vie religieuse et familiale, l'adoption d'une nouvelle culture matérielle et les coutumes funéraires locales. Cette étude portant sur le cimetière de Pianliancheng dans la province du Jilin, utilisé des années 1890 jusqu'aux années 1930, met en évidence les traces matérielles de cette histoire. Les données archéologiues, bioarchéologiques et historiques dévoilent une hybridation culturelle et des connexions transnationales. Ces découvertes mettent en lumière l'histoire individuelle de prêtres catholiques et de leur mission, l'hybridation des pratiques funéraires catholiques et confucéennes au sein des convertis chinois, des connexions matérielles aux communautés demigrants chinois à l'étranger, les conditions de travail et l'alimentation desdifférents membres de la communauté, la pérennité de la pratique du bandage des pieds dans les campagnes de Mandchourie et l'influence des conversions dans les dynamiques des genres et la vie familiale

Recipes of Ancient Egyptian kohls more diverse than previously thought.

Kohl, a dark eye cosmetic, is a well-known part of Ancient Egyptian culture. Modern chemical analyses of kohls have largely found lead-based inorganic constituents, whereas earlier studies argued for a much broader range of constituents. Furthermore, organic materials in kohls remain severely understudied. This raises questions regarding the true diversity of materials and recipes used to produce kohls. We analysed the contents of 11 kohl containers from the Petrie Museum collection in London. The objects selected cover a broad range of times and locations in Egypt. Our multi-analytical approach allowed us to characterise both inorganic and organic components. Our data show that inorganic ingredients in kohl recipes are not only lead-based but also manganese- and silicon-based. Our analyses also revealed that organic ingredients derived from both plant and animal sources were commonly used in kohl recipes and sometimes even represent the main constituent. All these findings point towards more varied recipes than initially thought and significantly shift our understanding of Ancient Egyptian kohls