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Organic residues in archaeology - the highs and lows of recent research
Steele, Valerie J.
Steele, Valerie J.
Publication Date
2013-10-15
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© 2013 American Chemical Society. This document is the unedited author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in ACS Symposium Series, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2013-1147.ch005
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Abstract
The analysis of organic residues from archaeological materials has become increasingly important to our understanding of ancient diet, trade and technology. Residues from diverse contexts have been retrieved and analysed from the remains of food, medicine and cosmetics to hafting material on stone arrowheads, pitch and tar from shipwrecks, and ancient manure from soils. Research has brought many advances in our understanding of archaeological, organic residues over the past two decades. Some have enabled very specific and detailed interpretations of materials preserved in the archaeological record. However there are still areas where we know very little, like the mechanisms at work during the formation and preservation of residues, and areas where each advance produces more questions rather than answers, as in the identification of degraded fats. This chapter will discuss some of the significant achievements in the field over the past decade and the ongoing challenges for research in this area.
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Accepted manuscript
Citation
Steele V (2013) Organic residues in archaeology - the highs and lows of recent research. In: Armitage RA and Burton JH (Eds.) Archaeological Chemistry VIII. ACS Symposium Series 1147. American Chemical Society. Chapter 5: 89-108.
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Full text was made available in the Repository on 15th Oct 2015, at the end of the publisher's embargo period.