Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe

Oliver E. Craig, Val J. Steele, Anders Fischer, Sönke Hartz, Søren H. Andersen, Paul Donohoe, Aikaterini Glykou, Hayley Saul, D. Martin Jones, Eva Koch, Carl P. Heron, Matthew James Collins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Farming transformed societies globally. Yet despite over a century of research, there is little consensus on the speed, completeness of this fundamental change and consequently its principal drivers. For Northern Europe, the debate has often centered on the rich archaeological record of the Western Baltic but even here it is unclear how quickly or completely people abandoned wild terrestrial and marine resources following the introduction of domesticated plants and animals at around 4,000 cal BC. Ceramic containers, found ubiquitously on these sites, contain remarkably well preserved lipids derived from their original use. Reconstructing culinary practices from this ceramic record provides a novel approach to tackle long-standing debates concerning the origins of farming. Here we present data on the molecular and isotopic characteristics of lipids extracted from 132 ceramic vessels and 100 carbonized surface residues dating to immediately before and after the first evidence for domesticated animals and plants in the Western Baltic. The presence of specific lipid biomarkers, notably ¿-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids, and the isotopic composition of individual n-alkanoic acids clearly show that a significant proportion (ca. 20%) of ceramic vessels with lipids preserved continued to be used for processing marine and freshwater resources across the transition to agriculture in this region. Whilst changes in pottery use are immediately evident, our data challenge the popular notions that economies were completely transformed with the arrival of farming and that Neolithic pottery was exclusively associated with produce from domesticated animals and plants.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17910-17915
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume108
Issue number44
Early online date24 Oct 2011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2011

Cite this