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Relationships Between Lipid Profiles and Use of Ethnographic Pottery: an Exploratory Study

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Abstract

Investigating the organic content of archaeological pottery has largely focused on identifying food commodities, but their use and mode of processing still need to be thoroughly investigated. The present study aims to explore the diversity of organic residue absorption patterns, over a wider range of functions than previously studied by experimentation, by analysing ceramics still in use today. A field survey in Bedik Country, Senegal, where the use of pottery is still alive, was conducted to document the uses of ceramics and to interview potters and users of the vessels. As a preliminary study, nine ceramics whose use was recorded were investigated through 59 samples for their absorbed molecular profiles, lipid concentrations, and the preservation of triglycerides and C18 unsaturated fatty acids. The interpretations were first carried out as a blind test and then compared with the actual use. Lipid concentrations and molecular profiles indicated a diversity of contents, and the comparison of samples taken along the vertical transects of the vessels resulted in pottery function hypotheses that were broadly aligned with the actual uses. Cooking pots for fat-rich products were successfully identified, but the various documented patterns showed that lipid accumulation in ceramics is more complex than expected. Although caution is required to adopt this approach for archaeological pots, the vessel for fermenting plant products has been identified. Last, this work pointed out that ceramics can be used for a wider range of purposes than those usually considered for archaeological pottery, such as steaming or cooking non-food products.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank first the Swiss-French collaborative fund PHC-Germaine de Staël that allowed to start the project on pottery function and economy in West Africa in 2015 and 2016 (dir. Anne Mayor and Julien Vieugué). We are also grateful to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) project ‘Human population and palaeoenvironment in Africa – Faleme’ led by Eric Huysecom, Anne Mayor and Irka Hajdas, which funded the field work in the Bedik Country in 2016 and 2017. The laboratory analyses were achieved in Nice as part of the SINERGIA project ‘Foodways in West Africa’ supervised by Anne Mayor and co-supervised by Tobias Haller and Martine Regert. We are very grateful to the SNF for its trust and support. We are glad to express our gratitude also to the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) of the University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) of Dakar, partner of the Faleme project, for providing the official authorisation of export for the ethnographic ceramic vessels being analysed. Thank you also to Cheikh Oumar Kanté and Aminata Sonko, students from UCAD, who helped us on the field. Last but not least, this research would not have been possible without the warm welcome we received in the Bedik villages, and the support of Senegalese colleagues and authorities. We also thank the reviewers for their thorough fruitful comments.

Funding

This research was supported by the Swiss-French collaborative fund PHC-Germaine de Staël, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) project ‘Human population and palaeoenvironment in Africa – Faleme’ led by Eric Huysecom, Anne Mayor and Irka Hajdas, and the SINERGIA project ‘Foodways in West Africa’ supervised by Anne Mayor and co-supervised by Tobias Haller and Martine Regert.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, CEPAM, Nice, France

    L. Drieu, M. Regert & A. Mazuy

  2. CNRS UMIFRE 7 Centre de Recherche Français à Jérusalem, Jérusalem, Israel

    J. Vieugué

  3. Institut fondamental d’Afrique noire, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal

    H. Bocoum

  4. Musée des Civilisations Noires, Dakar, Senegal

    H. Bocoum

  5. Laboratoire Archéologie et Peuplement de l’Afrique, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland

    A. Mayor

  6. Global Studies Institute, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland

    A. Mayor

Authors
  1. L. Drieu
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  2. M. Regert
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  3. A. Mazuy
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  4. J. Vieugué
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  5. H. Bocoum
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  6. A. Mayor
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Contributions

Martine Regert, Anne Mayor and Julien Vieugué contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and ceramic data collection were performed by Anne Mayor, Julien Vieugué and Hamady Bocoum; chemical data collection and analysis were performed by Léa Drieu and Arnaud Mazuy. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Léa Drieu, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to L. Drieu.

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Drieu, L., Regert, M., Mazuy, A. et al. Relationships Between Lipid Profiles and Use of Ethnographic Pottery: an Exploratory Study. J Archaeol Method Theory 29, 1294–1322 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-021-09547-1

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