Animal hard tissues were highly valuable resources in prehistoric technology. Spears, points and beads made of bone, ivory and antler, for example, are usually recovered in archaeological deposits associated with a range of activities, from dietary to ideological contexts. It is not clear whether ...
Archaeobotanical analysis is well established in archaeological scientific research and has been applied to a range of prehistoric hearths. In comparison, chemical and molecular analysis of hearths is far less established, with doubts regarding the preservation, origin of organic molecules and ...
This project will unite the artefactual and biological evidence for prehistoric wine consumption. You will examine DNA present in wine vessels and archaeobotanical remains that have been recovered from archaeological sites and test the assumption that grape domestication is associated with ...
You will get to work on materials from the Ness of Brodgar UNESCO world heritage site. The site lies at the heart of one of the largest Neolithic ceremonial complexes in Britain, and is likely to have been a prominent place in the political landscape of the time. Distinctive Grooved Ware pottery ...
Cereals were the backbone of Neolithic agriculture in Europe, but their relative contribution to regional culinary practices is a matter of debate. Ceramic vessels are the most widely available cultural archives for addressing the importance of cereals in early food production systems. However ...
Prehistoric cooking technologies have tended to focus on chemical analysis of ceramics. Without considering other artefacts involved in food preparation this may lead to a biased understanding of prehistoric diets. This project will focus on the combined chemical and morphological analysis of ...
Microwear analysis is well established in archaeological scientific research and has been applied to a range of prehistoric stone artefacts. In comparison, chemical and molecular analyses of ground stone tools are far less established, with doubts regarding the preservation of organic molecules ...
Thick charred and semi-charred surface deposits can often be found adhering to the inside of ceramic vessels as past remnants of food processing. Organic analysis of many hundreds of such ‘foodcrust’ samples has shown excellent preservation of lipids and unusually high amounts of nitrogenous ...
