On stews and sediments: contributions of experimental field and lab archaeology to the study of sedimentological modifications

KLIGMANN, DÉBORA M.; LANTOS, IRENE J.

Physical, chemical and biological markers in argentine archaeology: theory, methods and applications

British Archaeological Reports, Archaeopress

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2014; p. 131 - 147

This paper presents the geoarchaeological results of an experiment carried out to examine human modifications of sediments resulting from food preparation and consumption activities. We conducted experiments involving the deposition of organic matter coming from buried food remains in sediments both in the field and in the lab and measured their postdepositional decomposition. We discovered that color is not a good indicator of organic matter deposition if the amount deposited is too small. Our study suggests that pH, phosphorus, organic matter concentration, and lipid and fatty acids are good indicators of anthropic deposition and postdepositional processes and transformations. We observed that the postdepositional transformation of foodstuff is progressive in time, that humid environments accelerate these processes even in the same sedimentary contexts, and that clayey substrates help to better preserve organic matter for longer periods. These results support previous research in human modification of sediments through organic enrichment.