S. Charters et al., SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS FOR DETERMINING THE USE OF ANCIENT-POTTERY VESSELS - THE BEHAVIOR OF EPICUTICULAR LEAF WAX DURING BOILING OF A LEAFYVEGETABLE, Journal of archaeological science, 24(1), 1997, pp. 1-7
Laboratory experiments were performed using replica ceramic jars to si
mulate ancient pottery vessel use. The aim of the study was to investi
gate the behaviour of lipids, specifically, epicuticular leaf wax comp
onents during the processing of foodstuffs in unglazed ceramic vessels
to determine if the pattern of lipid accumulation in a vessel can be
used as an indicator of the mode of use of individual vessels. Brassic
a (cabbage) leaves were boiled in replica jars and the ceramic fabric
sampled from different parts of the vessel profiles. Leaf wax componen
ts were solvent-extracted from the fabric samples, and analysed by gas
chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to determine the
ir distributions and concentrations in different parts of the vessel p
rofiles. The same lipid distributions were detected in the fabric of t
he replica jars as occurred in the wax of the Brassica leaves. The pat
tern of lipid accumulation observed in the experimental vessels, i.e.
the relative concentrations of lipid at different points on the profil
e, was analogous to that seen in two ancient vessels which had been sh
own to contain Brassica leaf wax components. These results confirm tha
t boiling a leafy vegetable in water results in mobilization of the ep
icuticular wax and its incorporation into the porous ceramic fabric. T
he boiling process is non-selective with respect to the major leaf wax
components and leads to a characteristic distribution of lipid down t
he vessel profile, with higher concentrations in the upper parts and g
radually lower concentrations towards the base. This provided the firs
t experimental evidence for the actual mode of use of individual vesse
ls based on the results of organic residue analyses. (C) 1997 Academic
Press Limited