Dataset Information

Proteomic Identification of Cereal Grains Associated with Archaeological Artefacts

ABSTRACT: The domestication and transmission of cereals is one of the most fundamental components of early farming, but direct evidence of their use in early culinary practices and economies has remained frustratingly elusive. Using analysis of a well-preserved Early Bronze Age wooden container from Switzerland, we propose novel criterial for the identification of cereal residues. Using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we identified compounds typically associated with plant products, including a series of phenolic lipids (alkylresorcinols) found only at appreciable concentration in wheat and rye bran. The value of these lipids as cereal grain biomarkers were independently corroborated by the presence of macrobotanical remains embedded in the deposit, and wheat and rye endosperm peptides extracted from residue. These findings demonstrate the utility of a lipid-based biomarker for wheat and rye bran and offer a methodological template for future investigations of wider range of archaeological contexts. Alkylresorcinols provide a new tool for residue analysis which can help explore spread and exploitation of cereal grains, a economically fundamental component the advent and spread of farming.

INSTRUMENT(S): Orbitrap Fusion Lumos

ORGANISM(S): Triticum Aestivum (wheat)

TISSUE(S): Endosperm

SUBMITTER: Jessica Hendy

LAB HEAD: Matthew Collins

PROVIDER: PXD005908 | Pride | 2017-08-04

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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Publications

New criteria for the molecular identification of cereal grains associated with archaeological artefacts.

Colonese Andre Carlo AC Hendy Jessica J Lucquin Alexandre A Speller Camilla F CF Collins Matthew J MJ Carrer Francesco F Gubler Regula R Kühn Marlu M Fischer Roman R Craig Oliver E OE

Scientific reports 20170726 1

The domestication and transmission of cereals is one of the most fundamental components of early farming, but direct evidence of their use in early culinary practices and economies has remained frustratingly elusive. Using analysis of a well-preserved Early Bronze Age wooden container from Switzerland, we propose novel criteria for the identification of cereal residues. Using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we identified compounds typically associated with plant products, including ...[more]

PMID: 28747692

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Dataset Information

Proteomic Identification of Cereal Grains Associated with Archaeological Artefacts

Publications

New criteria for the molecular identification of cereal grains associated with archaeological artefacts.

Similar Datasets

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