Characterization of pottery foodcrusts through lipid and proteomic analyses: a case study from the Xiawan site in Yixing city, East China

ABSTRACT: Foodcrusts are often discovered inside archaeological pottery and other containers. They can provide abundant information about vessel function, diet, cuisine activities and human subsistence strategies. Lipid analysis has been used for decades to characterize foodcrusts, indicating their compositions and biological sources. Recently, proteomics has also been applied to foodcrusts, providing more specific information about the tissues and species origins. In this study, lipid and proteomic analysis were combined to analyze foodcrusts in pottery from the Xiawan site of the Taihu Lake region, East China. These pottery sherds are mainly attributed to the Songze cultural period (ca. 5800-5300 BP). The results show that these foodcrusts contain interpretable concentrations of lipid compounds, including a series of common medium- and long-chain fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, aliphatic alcohols, sterols and their derivatives, isoprenoid fatty acids and long-chain ketones, as well as proteins of terrestrial mammals and aquatic products. This study provides direct evidence for the function of pottery and the exploitation of animal and plant resources at that time, especially freshwater products, marine fish, rice and millet. In addition, as an indicator of high-temperature heating, long-chain ketones may have the potential to be used for prescreening the preservation of ancient proteins in foodcrusts. Therefore, the combination of lipid and proteomic analysis has great potential in organic residue analysis for foodcrusts.

INSTRUMENT(S): Orbitrap Fusion Lumos, Q Exactive HF-X

ORGANISM(S): Mammalia Unclassified Actinopterygii

SUBMITTER: Nanning LYU  

LAB HEAD: Huiyun Rao

PROVIDER: PXD045813 | Pride | 2025-07-10

REPOSITORIES: Pride