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Microdestructive analysis with Py-GC/MS for the identification of birch tar: a case study from the Huayang site in late Neolithic China

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Abstract

The use of birch tar has a long history, and its remains are found worldwide, especially in Europe, but few remains are found in Asia. Common characterization methods include gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), direct exposure electron ionization mass spectrometry (DE-MS) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Py-GC/MS requires no solvent extraction, less sample than GC/MS, and no statistical analysis compared to DE-MS. However, Py-GC/MS has been rarely applied to identify birch tar because some critical characteristic molecules of birch tar were not identified. In this study, we first reported some biomarkers of birch tar that could be identified by Py-GC/MS in terms of analyzing modern birch tar. Then, the analysis criteria were used to analyze archaeological samples adhered to stone artifacts from a late Neolithic site (about 4000 BP) in northeast China. The results provide the earliest evidence of the exploitation of birch tar in northeast Asia up to date.

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Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are in the article and the Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFF0903800), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072217), the National Social Science Foundation of China (19BKG009), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Nanning Lyu, Shixia Yang, Jianping Yue & Huiyun Rao

  2. Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Nanning Lyu, Bin Han & Yimin Yang

  3. Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Harbin, 150008, China

    Youqian Li

  4. School of History, Anhui University, Hefei, 230039, China

    Jianping Yue

  5. Shimadzu (China) Co. Ltd Beijing Branch, Beijing, 100020, China

    Feifei Tian

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  1. Nanning Lyu
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  3. Shixia Yang
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Correspondence to Youqian Li or Yimin Yang.

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Lyu, N., Li, Y., Yang, S. et al. Microdestructive analysis with Py-GC/MS for the identification of birch tar: a case study from the Huayang site in late Neolithic China. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 138, 580 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04213-9

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