The chemistry of neolithic beeswax

Heron, C.; Nemcek, Nina; Bonfield, K. M.; Dixon, D. M.; Ottaway, Barbara S.

doi:10.1007/bf01131579

Cited by 151 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Indeed, beeswax has been regularly detected in later archaeological and historic periods in lipid extracts from the fabric of unglazed pottery vessels 11 where it is assumed to be a residue of honey use in cooking, or from the use of vessels for processing wax combs [12][13][14] , with beeswax being absorbed through repeated contacts. Beeswax has also been detected as a fuel in lamps and in larger vessels used as proto beehives, for example Roman Greece (second century bc to fourth century ad) 15,16 and applied as a post firing treatment to waterproof vessels 17 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers

Roffet‐Salque

Regert

Evershed

et al. 2015

Nature

158

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confidence: 99%

“…In Central Europe, pure beeswax was recovered from potsherds from Linearbandkeramik (LBK) sites occupied by the earliest farmers of Austria and Germany (oldest LBK) including the sites of Brunn am Gebirge (5500-5400 cal bc) and Niederhummel (5360-5220 cal bc), pushing back the date for bee exploitation in this region by approxi mately 1,500 years 13 (Fig. 2b).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers

Roffet‐Salque

Regert

Evershed

et al. 2015

Nature

158

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“…Dudd and Evershed 1998;Evershed et al 2002;Copley et al 2003;Evershed et al 2008;Dunne et al 2012;Debono Spiteri et al 2016). Likewise, aquatic products (Patrick et al 1985;Hansel et al 2004;Craig et al 2007;Hansel and Evershed 2009;Shoda et al 2017), plant oils and waxes denoting vegetable and plant oil consumption/ processing (Evershed et al 1991;Copley et al 2001a;Copley et al 2001b;Reber et al 2004;Copley et al 2005;Cramp et al 2011;Dunne et al 2016) and beeswax (Heron et al 1994;Charters et al 1995;Evershed et al 1997b;Regert et al 2001;Evershed et al 2003;Roffet-Salque et al 2015), resins, tars and bitumen (Beck et al 1989;Mills and White 1989;Evershed et al 1997a;van Bergen et al 1997;Urem-Kotsou et al 2002;Stern et al 2003;Buckley et al 2004;Stern et al 2008;Connan et al 2013;Brown et al 2014: Brettell et al 2014 have been identified in connection with a wide range of technological and cultural activities. On a broader scale, lipid residue analyses can provide insight into the domestication of plants and animals, the development of animal husbandry practices and ecological and environmental changes through time (Evershed 2008b;Evershed et al 2008;…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pastoralist Foodways Recorded in Organic Residues from Pottery Vessels of Modern Communities in Samburu, Kenya

Dunne

Grillo

Casanova

et al. 2018

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Organic residue analyses of archaeological ceramics can provide important insights into ancient foodways. To date, however, there has been little critical reflection on how lipid residues might (or might not) reflect dietary practices or subsistence strategies more generally. A combination of ethnoarchaeological research and chemical and isotopic analyses of lipid residues from pottery made and used by modern Samburu pastoralists in northern Kenya was undertaken to supplement the interpretive framework used in archaeological investigations. A total of 63 potsherds were collected from various contexts, including settlement sites and rockshelters, and analysed using gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). The results showed that the free fatty acids, palmitic (C 16:0 ) and stearic (C 18:0 ), dominated the lipid profiles, with extremely broad ranges of δ 13 C values. The majority of the Δ 13 C values from Samburu pots suggest that vessels were intensively used to process ruminant carcass products, yet the Samburu economy is not, in fact, meat-based at all. Despite an overall reliance on dairy products, milk is rarely processed in ceramic vessels, largely due to cultural prohibitions. Surprisingly, a number of vessels from one site, Naiborkeju Hill, were used to process dairy products. Compound-specific radiocarbon dating of lipids from these sherds suggests that this pottery originated from an earlier period, demonstrating a possible shift in ceramic use by pastoralist communities in this region over time. The overall conclusion is that lipid residues may not necessarily reflect, in a simple way, the day-to-day consumption or the perceived relative importance of different foodstuffs. In the Samburu case, lipid residues reflect the functional and ideological suitability of ceramics for processing only certain types of food (meat/fat/bones), despite an overall reliance on milk. These conclusions are important when considering the origins and development of African pastoralism, for example, as interpreted from the archaeological record.

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“…An increasing range of commodities is being detected in pottery vessels, including animals products (e.g. Evershed et al 1992;Copley et al 2003), leafy vegetables (Evershed et al 1991;Evershed et al 1994), specific plant oils (Condamin et al 1976;Copley et al 2005a) and beeswax (Heron et al 1994;Evershed et al 1997;Regert et al 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early herding practices revealed through organic residue analysis of pottery from the early Neolithic rock shelter of Mala Triglavca, Slovenia

Budja

Evershed

2008

Doc. praeh.

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A collection of pottery from the early Neolithic site of Mala Triglavca was analysed with the aim of obtaining insights into vessel use and early animal domestication and husbandry practices in the Adriatic region. Total lipid extracts were submitted to gas chromatography (GC), GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-combustion-isotope ratio MS (GC-C-IRMS) in order to obtain molecular and stable carbon isotope signatures as the basis for determining the nature and origins of the residues. The extracts were dominated by degraded animal fats. The majority (70%) of the total lipid extracts displayed intact triacylglycerol distributions attributable to ruminant adipose and dairy fats, which were subsequently confirmed through C16:0 and C18:0 fatty acid δ13C values.

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The chemistry of neolithic beeswax

Cited by 151 publications

References 10 publications

Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers

Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers

Pastoralist Foodways Recorded in Organic Residues from Pottery Vessels of Modern Communities in Samburu, Kenya

Early herding practices revealed through organic residue analysis of pottery from the early Neolithic rock shelter of Mala Triglavca, Slovenia

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