Eleanora A. Reber

Direct detection of maize in pottery residues via compound specific stable carbon isotope analysis

Discovering what was cooked in a pot by identifying lipids trapped in the potsherds has been a highly successful method developed in recent years. Here the authors identify a compound which shows the pots had been used to process maize – probably the most important foodstuff in later prehistoric North America. The uptake of maize is confirmed as coincident with the Mississippian fluorescence.

Modeling freshwater reservoir offsets on radiocarbon-dated charred cooking residues

Abstract Obtaining radiocarbon assays on objects of chronological interest is always preferable to obtaining assays on spatially associated charcoal. The development of Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) dating has expanded the number of objects that can be directly assayed because it requires only a few milligrams of material. Pottery can be directly assayed when charred cooking residues adhering to the interior walls are present. The accuracy of AMS ages derived from residues has been questioned in cases where cooking freshwater aquatic organisms may have introduced carbon from ancient carbon reservoirs into residues. Here we provide analytic protocols for examination of this phenomenon and the results of systematic modeling of age estimates on residues formed from fish and maize with varying percentages of dead carbon. We present a regional case study using a large series of AMS age estimates on residues from the Finger Lakes region of northeastern United States to demonstrate how the paleolimnological record and lipid analysis of residues can help to determine if dates on residues from a given region are likely to have been affected by the presence of ancient carbon. In the case of the Finger Lakes, there is no evidence that ancient carbon affected the age estimates.

Direct Determination of the Contents of a Ceramic Bottle from the Moundville Site, Alabama

Abstract A complete subglobular bottle was excavated from a linear feature at the Moundville site in the Black Warrior Valley of Alabama, dating to A.D. 1200–1500. Absorbed residue from the bottle and soil contained within the vessel were extracted, analyzed, and compared with residue from soil outside of the bottle. The residues suggest that the bottle was buried containing a stew or soup made with meat and a wide range of plants, rather than a tea or ritual beverage, which would have been the expected contents of a bottle based on vessel form. The bottle contents identified through residue analysis indicates that the vessel and its contents were an offering of food for the deceased.

TAKING VARIATION SERIOUSLY: TESTING THE STEATITE MAST-PROCESSING HYPOTHESIS WITH MICROBOTANICAL DATA FROM THE HUNTER'S HOME SITE, NEW YORK

In a series of recent publications, Truncer (1999, 2004a, 2004b, 2006) presents a hypothesis that during what he interprets as the peak period of use (2500-1500 cal. B.C.) in eastern North America, steatite (soapstone) vessels were specialized cooking tools used to process mast. A key component of Truncers hypothesis building is his interpretation of an analysis of fatty acids extracted from charred residue adhering to four steatite sherds, which he interpreted to be consistent with mast. This is the only component of his hypothesis building that directly links steatite vessel use to mast processing. Here we convey the results of a reassessment of Truncers analytical results and the results of our own analysis of phytoliths and fatty acids extracted from charred residue adhering to three sherds from the Hunters Home site. Our results undermine this key component of Truncers hypothesis building and therefore the hypothesis itself.

Absorbed Residue Analysis of a Mississippi Plain Jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1)

Abstract For the first time in North American archaeology, absorbed residue analysis was conducted on multiple samples from the same vessel, a complete Mississippi Plain jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1). This approach provided comprehensive, residue-based interpretations of the form and function of a single pot. The Mississippi Plain jar was recovered from a burnt house floor along with the broken remains of a similar vessel and burnt maize. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of absorbed lipid residues were performed on four different parts of this vessel to determine its contents and function. Comparison of absorbed residues from the pot and soil lipids was used to determine whether the pot was buried with contents intact. The results indicate that this vessel was used to cook a mixture of riverine (lean fish or shellfish) and plant resources, probably including maize. Diterpenoid biomarkers were also present, suggesting that conifer resin was used either to seal the pot or as a flavoring. The jar, though deposited whole, was probably not buried with contents intact.