Morning session - part 1 9:15-10:45
Characterization of the Fish Products Lipidic Signatures in Ethnographic Pots for a Better Interpretation of Archaeological Remains
Louise Martignac (1) - Léa Drieu (2) - Julien Vieugué (3) - Anne Mayor (4) - Moustapha Sall (5) - Martine Regert (2)
CNRS, UMR 7264 / UMR 8068, Nice, France (1) - CNRS, CEPAM UMR7264, Nice, France (2) - CNRS, TEMPS UMR8068, Paris, France (3) - Laboratoire d’Archéologie africaine et Anthropologie (ARCAN), Faculté des Sciences de Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland (4) - UCAD, Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines, Dakar, Senegal (5)
Keywords: Lipids, Fish products, Ethno-archaeology
There are still open questions regarding the lack of biomolecular evidence of aquatic products in European Neolithic ceramics, despite the availability of these resources (Craig et al., 2013). It is still unclear whether this reflects ancient foodways (no consumption or not in pottery), or whether their chemical composition is highly conducive to natural degradation, leading to difficulties of detection.
Ceramic vessels from the Diola Kassa in Lower Casamance (Senegal) were studied: 6 ethnographic vessels used for fish-based recipes, and 8 ethno-experimental vessels in which fish was experimentally processed several times. To assess the interpretative potential and limitations of this ethno-archaeological method, we also studied an archaeological dumping site, “La Poubelle des Mamans”, located in Lower Casamance (Debels et al, 2024) and vessels buried during 1 and 2 years.
These vessels have been chemically investigated using suitable protocols to detect aquatic products (Cramp & Evershed, 2014). Lipids were recovered with acidified methanol extractions, GC-MS and isotopic analyses were performed.
TWe have observed that, despite repetitive use, none of the recipients showed all the biomarkers of aquatic resources listed in the literature. There is a wide variability in the molecular composition of the vessels with no discernible trend according to the duration of use or extraction yield.
These results will help the interpretation of archaeological lipid extracts. They provide clues to assess the extent to which fish-based diets can be inferred from the lipids absorbed in pottery and objectify the lost information. By providing interpretative keys to study aquatic products consumption, we attempt to understand the relationship between past societies and their environment.
