IDECU   25222
INSTITUTO DE LAS CULTURAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Application of chromatograpy and mass spectrometry techniques to characterize lipid residues in vessels from a cooking context in the archaeological site of El Colorado, Catamarca, Argentina
Autor/es:
LANTOS, IRENE; AVERSENTE, YANINA; CAREAGA QUIROGA, VALERIA; MAIER, MARTA; PALAMARCZUK, VALERIA
Lugar:
Brujas
Reunión:
Congreso; TechnArt 2019; 2019
Institución organizadora:
University of Antwerp
Resumen:
The study of lipid residues in archaeological ceramic artefacts provides insight on past culinary practices and foodways. The application of both gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI) allow thecharacterisations of FAME, sterol and acylglyceride profiles and more thorough searches of biomarkers, that together help better determine potential lipid origins in complex mixtures. In this study we carried out GC-MS and HPLC-ESI analyses on lipid residues recovered from a set of four ceramic containers that were unearthed in situ in an intact domestic cooking context dating from the 14 century AD, in the archaeological site of El Colorado, Catamarca province, Argentina [1, 2]. We studied two Santa María style vessels, one Santa María style bowl and one ordinary cooking pot. In addition, we studied sediment samples from the hearth and activity area, as well as a sediment sample outside of the cooking area as a means of control. Results from GC-MS analyses from the ceramic containers indicated mixtures of plant and animal lipids. Most of the recovered fatty acids were saturated (C12:0 to C26:0), although dicarboxylic acids (C6 to C10) were also found in some samples, which could indicate the degradation of unsaturated fatty acids [2]. One sample showed small amounts of oleic acid (C18:1). The presence of ruminant animal lipids ? possibly from llama ? is suspected given the presence of odd carbon linear and branched fatty acids. It is interesting that the sediment samples from the hearth and the kitchen activity area yielded lipids, although the FAME profiles did not match any of the ceramic containers. We propose that these lipids were the product of food processing and/or spills during cooking activities. The sample taken outside of the cooking area did not show significant presence of lipids. Sterol analysis showed presence of cholesterol in three ceramic containers, as well as plant sterols (stigmasterol, sitosterol) in two containers. With HPLC-ESI we identified intact mono-, di- and triacylglycerides (MAG, DAG, TAG) in the archaeological samples. The characterisation of the lipid profiles and the identification of biomarkers in these samples provided insight on the culinary use of these archaeological utensils in the kitchen context from El Colorado. We plan to compare these results to our acylglycerides and FAME database from plants and animals native to the area under study, which is currently under construction.References[1] V. Palamarczuk, Andes [online], 27 (2016)[2] I. Lantos, V. Palamarzcuk, M. Orgaz, N. Ratto and M.S. Maier. J. Archaeol. Sci.: Rep., 18 (2018)