‘Old food, new methods’: recent developments in lipid analysis for ancient foodstuffs
Vykukal R, Gabiger A, Cramp LJ, Hammann S (2024)
Publication Type: Journal article, Review article
Publication year: 2024
Journal
Book Volume: 176
Article Number: 117668
DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2024.117668
Abstract
In the study of ancient diet, lipid analysis of archaeological pottery residues has become a major investigative tool. Lipids absorb readily into clay vessels during cooking or processing of foodstuffs and are preserved, although not completely unchanged, for millennia. These can be linked directly to plant and animal resources used by past societies and can be valuable for understanding culinary practices, diet, and foodways. Identifying ‘old food’ via organic residue analysis has steadily developed since its inception last century, but growth has intensified in the past several years in many areas from modern reference comparisons to data interpretation. This paper will discuss current developments in the field of dietary studies using archaeological lipid analysis. Advancements in extraction methods, instrumentation, experimental ground-truthing, data processing, and interpretive frameworks are significantly boosting the explanatory power of lipid analysis for reconstructing ancient foodways and amplifying the importance of biomolecular-level data even further.
Authors with CRIS profile
Rachel Vykukal
Juniorprofessur für Lebensmittelsicherheit und -qualität (am Henriette Schmidt-Burkhardt Lehrstuhl)
Anastasia Gabiger
Department Chemie und Pharmazie
Simon Hammann
Juniorprofessur für Lebensmittelsicherheit und -qualität (am Henriette Schmidt-Burkhardt Lehrstuhl)
Involved external institutions
United Kingdom (GB)How to cite
APA:
Vykukal, R., Gabiger, A., Cramp, L.J., & Hammann, S. (2024). ‘Old food, new methods’: recent developments in lipid analysis for ancient foodstuffs. Trac-Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2024.117668
MLA:
Vykukal, Rachel, et al. "‘Old food, new methods’: recent developments in lipid analysis for ancient foodstuffs." Trac-Trends in Analytical Chemistry 176 (2024).
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