Neolithic culinary traditions revealed by cereal, milk and meat lipids in pottery from Scottish crannogs
Neolithic culinary traditions revealed by cereal, milk and meat lipids in pottery from Scottish crannogs
Cereal cultivation in Britain dates back to ca. 4000 BCE, probably introduced by migrant farmers from continental Europe. Widespread evidence for livestock appears in the archaeozoological record, also reflected by ubiquitous dairy lipids in pottery organic residues. However, despite archaeobotanical evidence for domesticated plants (such as cereals), organic residue evidence has been near-absent. Our approach, targeting low-abundance cereal-specific markers, has now revealed evidence for cereals (indicating wheat) in Neolithic pottery from Scottish 'crannogs', dating to ca. 3600 - 3300 BCE. Their association with dairy products suggests cereals may have been regularly prepared together as a milk-based gruel. We also observed a strong association between the occurrence of dairy products and smaller-mouthed vessels. Here, we demonstrate that cereal-specific markers can survive in cooking pots for millennia, revealing the consumption of specific cereals (wheat) that are virtually absent from the archaeobotanical record for this region and illuminating culinary traditions among early farming communities.
Animals, Archaeology, Edible Grain, Lipids/chemistry, Meat, Milk/chemistry, Scotland
5045
Hammann, Simon
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Bishop, Rosie
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Copper, Mike
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Garrow, Duncan
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Greenwood, Caitlin
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Hewson, Lanah
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Sheridan, Alison
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Sturt, Fraser
442e14e1-136f-4159-bd8e-b002bf6b95f6
Whelton, Helen
06a9e2a5-588c-425c-8a5e-565e44ff31ae
Cramp, Lucy
5a2fd749-b5a2-46ce-9554-763e3f2677a1
6 September 2022
Hammann, Simon
3998fd35-2703-4266-b954-ff69506a9b84
Bishop, Rosie
b5134709-79f2-410e-9b49-bfea0714be31
Copper, Mike
7e9b91d9-255d-41b6-a7eb-038b33583055
Garrow, Duncan
516e3fea-51bf-4452-85f3-cd1bc0da68c6
Greenwood, Caitlin
15ec9c78-9312-479d-9cac-952b7d680db6
Hewson, Lanah
c4b76d11-42b3-4394-a6e1-8813067441fe
Sheridan, Alison
3744de9e-5516-4842-bb36-852702ded40a
Sturt, Fraser
442e14e1-136f-4159-bd8e-b002bf6b95f6
Whelton, Helen
06a9e2a5-588c-425c-8a5e-565e44ff31ae
Cramp, Lucy
5a2fd749-b5a2-46ce-9554-763e3f2677a1
Hammann, Simon, Bishop, Rosie, Copper, Mike, Garrow, Duncan, Greenwood, Caitlin, Hewson, Lanah, Sheridan, Alison, Sturt, Fraser, Whelton, Helen and Cramp, Lucy
(2022)
Neolithic culinary traditions revealed by cereal, milk and meat lipids in pottery from Scottish crannogs.
Nature Communications, 13 (1), , [5045].
(doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32286-0).
Abstract
Cereal cultivation in Britain dates back to ca. 4000 BCE, probably introduced by migrant farmers from continental Europe. Widespread evidence for livestock appears in the archaeozoological record, also reflected by ubiquitous dairy lipids in pottery organic residues. However, despite archaeobotanical evidence for domesticated plants (such as cereals), organic residue evidence has been near-absent. Our approach, targeting low-abundance cereal-specific markers, has now revealed evidence for cereals (indicating wheat) in Neolithic pottery from Scottish 'crannogs', dating to ca. 3600 - 3300 BCE. Their association with dairy products suggests cereals may have been regularly prepared together as a milk-based gruel. We also observed a strong association between the occurrence of dairy products and smaller-mouthed vessels. Here, we demonstrate that cereal-specific markers can survive in cooking pots for millennia, revealing the consumption of specific cereals (wheat) that are virtually absent from the archaeobotanical record for this region and illuminating culinary traditions among early farming communities.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 26 July 2022
Published date: 6 September 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We are all extremely grateful to Chris Murray and Mark Elliott through whose vision and hard work these sites were identified (and much of the material we have analysed recovered) in the first place. This study was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, NE/N011317/1, S.H. and L.J.E.C.) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/S010157/1, D.G and F.S). The survey and excavation work of D.G. and F.S. on these sites (2015-17) was generously funded by the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, Honor Frost Foundation and the Society of Antiquaries of London. The authors wish to thank NERC for partial funding of the National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF, contract number NE/V003917/1) as well as NERC and the University of Bristol for supporting its GC-MS (2014 Strategic Environmental Science Capital Call award no. CC010) and GC-IRMS capabilities.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
Keywords:
Animals, Archaeology, Edible Grain, Lipids/chemistry, Meat, Milk/chemistry, Scotland
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 469587
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469587
ISSN: 2041-1723
PURE UUID: 626a0fb1-57d9-416b-bc22-dd26aa7b6591
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Date deposited: 20 Sep 2022 16:59
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:05
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Contributors
Author:
Simon Hammann
Author:
Rosie Bishop
Author:
Mike Copper
Author:
Duncan Garrow
Author:
Caitlin Greenwood
Author:
Lanah Hewson
Author:
Alison Sheridan
Author:
Helen Whelton
Author:
Lucy Cramp
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