Chemical analysis of ancient pottery

[guy]

The Nok culture thrived in central Nigeria from 1500 BCE to 500 AD. The were well known for their terracotta figurines and iron working.

Little is known about their diet, however. The acidic soil in the Nok territories did not preserve much organic material.

Fortunately analysis on ancient pottery has shed new light on their diets.

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“The technique of analyzing organic residue involves grinding up small pieces of potsherds excavated from archaeological sites and chemically extracting lipids preserved in the vessels. Lipids are the fats, oils and waxes of the natural world. They provide a "biomolecular fingerprint" of the foods that were cooked in the vessels.”

“Animal fats, such as milk or meat, are by far the most common foodstuffs identified in ancient pots worldwide. So we were surprised when our analyses revealed that over one third of Nok potsherds yielded a remarkable range of plant lipid profiles, some of which had not previously been seen in archaeological vessels anywhere—though evidence for plant processing has been found in the Libyan Sahara.”

“Our results suggest that Nok people consumed "greens" or leaves from plants such as jute mallow, African eggplant, okra, cowpea and bombax, widely used today. These provide cheap but quality nutrition and add taste and flavor to the otherwise monotonous starch-based staples consumed. They can be kept dried and stored for use throughout the year, affording a buffer in periods of food shortage.

Evidence for leafy vegetables and starchy plants in the ancient pots mirrors the starches and sauces cooked today.”

 

 

 

Summary: The use of chemical analysis on pottery vessels has yielded new insights into ancient cultures. [See posts below.]

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-chemical-ancient-west-african-pots.html

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by guy