Publication detail

What about Dinner? Chemical and Microresidue Analysis Reveals the Function of Late Neolithic Ceramic Pans

BENEŠ, J. TODOROSKA, V. BUDILOVÁ, K. KOVÁRNÍK, J. PAVELKA, J. ATANASOSKA, N. BUMERL, J. FLORENZANO, A. MAJEROVIČOVÁ, T. VONDROVSKÝ, V. PTÁKOVÁ, M. BEDNÁŘ, P. RICHTERA, L. KUČERA, L.

Original Title

What about Dinner? Chemical and Microresidue Analysis Reveals the Function of Late Neolithic Ceramic Pans

Type

journal article in Web of Science

Language

English

Original Abstract

The Late Neolithic palafitte site, Ustie na Drim, in the northern part of Lake Ohrid (North Macedonia), excavated in 1962, offered ceramic fragments of large, flat, elongated pans. These artifacts could be dated by relative chronology to roughly around 5200-5000 BC. According to their shape and technological traits, the ceramic pans were probably used for baking. The attached materials on the surface of studied pan fragments were sampled for consequent chemical and microscopical analyses (i.e., analyses of starch, phytoliths, and microscopic animal remains). An immunological method revealed the presence of pork proteins in samples. The presence of organic residues of animal origin was, moreover, confirmed by the detection of cholesterol using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Analysis of detected microscopic botanical objects revealed starch grains of several plants (i.e., oak, cattail, and grasses). An interesting find was the hair of a beetle larva, which could be interpreted contextually as the khapra beetle, a pest of grain and flour. Based on our data, we suppose that the ceramic pans from Ustie na Drim were used for the preparation of meals containing meat from common livestock in combination with cereals and wild plants.

Keywords

archaeobotany; ceramic vessel; cholesterol; pests; phytoliths; starch; proteins; gas chromatography

Authors

BENEŠ, J.; TODOROSKA, V.; BUDILOVÁ, K.; KOVÁRNÍK, J.; PAVELKA, J.; ATANASOSKA, N.; BUMERL, J.; FLORENZANO, A.; MAJEROVIČOVÁ, T.; VONDROVSKÝ, V.; PTÁKOVÁ, M.; BEDNÁŘ, P.; RICHTERA, L.; KUČERA, L.

Released

30. 6. 2021

Publisher

MDPI

ISBN

1420-3049

Periodical

MOLECULES

Year of study

26

Number

11

State

Swiss Confederation

Pages from

1

Pages to

16

Pages count

16

URL

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/11/3391

Full text in the Digital Library

http://hdl.handle.net/11012/203031

BibTex

@article{BUT172727,
  author="Jaromír {Beneš} and Valentina {Todoroska} and Kristýna {Budilová} and Jaromír {Kovárník} and Jaroslav {Pavelka} and Nevenka {Atanasoska} and Jiří {Bumerl} and Assunta {Florenzano} and Tereza {Majerovičová} and Václav {Vondrovský} and Michaela {Ptáková} and Petr {Bednář} and Lukáš {Richtera} and Lukáš {Kučera}",
  title="What about Dinner? Chemical and Microresidue Analysis Reveals the Function of Late Neolithic Ceramic Pans",
  journal="MOLECULES",
  year="2021",
  volume="26",
  number="11",
  pages="1--16",
  doi="10.3390/molecules26113391",
  issn="1420-3049",
  url="https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/11/3391"
}