Theory and Practice of Archaeological Residue Analysis

Description

Organic residues include a broad range of materials that can be analyzed at a macro-, micro- or molecular level. They represent the carbon-based remains (in combination with H, N, O, P and S) of fungi, plants, animals and humans. Organic residue analysis is a relatively new technique to archaeology. The chapters of this volume bring together scholars from across the globe and attest to the diverse range of analytical methods, material types, spatio-temporal cultural units and research questions to which organic residue analysis has been applied. They are partly the proceedings of a symposium on this subject, held on 31 March 2005 in Salt Lake City (Utah) during the 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, and partly the result of invitations to contribute forwarded to many active in this field. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE Introduction CHAPTER TWO Residues of Maize in North American Pottery: What Phytoliths can add to the Story of Maize CHAPTER THREE Micro-Residues on Stone Tools: The Bigger Picture from a South African Middle Stone Age Perspective CHAPTER FOUR Methods of Interpreting Bronze Age Vessel Residues: Discussion, Correlation and the Verification of Data CHAPTER FIVE An Introduction to Archaeological Lipid Analysis by Combined Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) CHAPTER SIX Elucidating Pottery Function using a Multi-step Analytical Methodology combining Infrared Spectroscopy, Chromatographic Procedures and Mass Spectrometry CHAPTER SEVEN Fatty Acid Analysis of Archaeological Residues: Procedures and Possibilities CHAPTER EIGHT Organic Residue Analysis and the Decomposition of Fatty Acids in Ancient Potsherds CHAPTER NINE A Comparative Study of Extractable Lipids in the Sherds and Surface Residual Crusts of Ceramic Vessels from Neolithic and Roman Iron Age Settlements in the Netherlands CHAPTER TEN Patterns of Subsistence Change During the Final Neolithic in the Primorye Region of the Russian Far East as Revealed by Fatty Acid Residue Analysis CHAPTER ELEVEN Using Residue Analysis to Confirm Trade Connections at Pella, Jordan CHAPTER TWELVE The Well-Tempered Pottery Analysis: Residue and Typological Analysis of Potsherds from the Lower Mississippi Valley CHAPTER THIRTEEN Analysis of Lipid Residues in Archaeological Artifacts: Marine Mammal Oil and Cooking Practices in the Arctic CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Archaeology of Alkaloids CHAPTER FIFTEEN Reconstructing Mississippian Diet in the American Bottom with Stable Isotope Ratios of Pot Sherd Residues CHAPTER SIXTEEN Results of Seven Methods for Organic Residue Analysis Applied to One Vessel with the Residue of a Known Foodstuff CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Introduction to the Analysis of Protein Residues in Archaeological Ceramics Appendix I: Common Isotopes of 99 Elements APPENDIX II: A Short Overview of Protein Biochemistry List of Figures and Tables The Authors INDEX