Ancient proteins from ceramic vessels at Çatalhöyük West reveal the hidden cuisine of early farmers

Abstract

The analysis of lipids (fats, oils and waxes) absorbed within archaeological pottery has revolutionized the study of past diets and culinary practices. However, this technique can lack taxonomic and tissue specificity and is often unable to disentangle signatures resulting from the mixing of different food products. Here, we extract ancient proteins from ceramic vessels from the West Mound of the key early farming site of Çatalhöyük in Anatolia, revealing that this community processed mixes of cereals, pulses, dairy and meat products, and that particular vessels may have been reserved for specialized foods (e.g., cow milk and milk whey). Moreover, we demonstrate that dietary proteins can persist on archaeological artefacts for at least 8000 years, and that this approach can reveal past culinary practices with more taxonomic and tissue-specific clarity than has been possible with previous biomolecular techniques.

Human stature in the Near East and Europe ca. 10,000–1000 BC: its spatiotemporal development in a Bayesian errors-in-variables model

“…It is probably no coincidence that the "Farming Threshold" that kept the Neolithic within the Near East was breached right after the Second Neolithic Revolution (Rosenstock in press), and Secondary Neolithization carried plant cultivation and livestock keeping from its Near Eastern homeland into Southeastern and Central Europe as well as the Central and Western Mediterranean (Guilaine 2001;Schier 2009). It entailed not only the introduction of completely new foodstuffs such as cereals and pulses as well as milk products (Craig et al 2005;Evershed et al 2008;Salque et al 2013;Hendy et al 2018), but also a considerable degree of migration of early farmers (Hofmanová et al 2016) into these regions. Nevertheless, no reflection in stature during and after the Pre-and Protosesklo cultures ca.…”

Compound specific isotope analysis of lipid residues provides the earliest direct evidence of dairy product processing in South Asia

“…On the other hand, cereal grains have low lipid content which can be easily overshadowed by animal fats 73,86,87 . Recent studies have pointed out that mixing between animal fats and plant oils can potentially affect the Δ 13 C values, based on simulated results 88,89 . While mixing of ruminant adipose fats with C 3 plant oils can never produce Δ 13 C values similar to dairy, the simulated mixing of C 3 ruminant fats with C 4 plants was shown to be able to produce dairy Δ 13 C values 89 .…”

So you want to do biocodicology? A field guide to the biological analysis of parchment

“…A major advantage of proteomic based studies is that proteins have tissue specificity; while the DNA of every cell is identical, proteins are specific to different tissues and environments, allowing the identification of not only the species but also of the biological tissue [34,35]. For example it would be possible to detect the proteins present in egg white glares on the surfaces of some parchments thus allowing for a species ID (chicken), as would DNA, but also confirming proteomically that the substance is egg white, which would not be possible through DNA analysis.…”