Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe

Abstract

Farming transformed societies globally. Yet, despite more than a century of research, there is little consensus on the speed or completeness of this fundamental change and, consequently, on its principal drivers. For Northern Europe, the debate has often centered on the rich archaeological record of the Western Baltic, but even here it is unclear how quickly or completely people abandoned wild terrestrial and marine resources after the introduction of domesticated plants and animals at ∼4000 calibrated years B.C. Ceramic containers are found ubiquitously on these sites and contain remarkably well-preserved lipids derived from the original use of the vessel. Reconstructing culinary practices from this ceramic record can contribute to longstanding debates concerning the origins of farming. Here we present data on the molecular and isotopic characteristics of lipids extracted from 133 ceramic vessels and 100 carbonized surface residues dating to immediately before and after the first evidence of domesticated animals and plants in the Western Baltic. The presence of specific lipid biomarkers, notably ω-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids, and the isotopic composition of individual n-alkanoic acids clearly show that a significant proportion (∼20%) of ceramic vessels with lipids preserved continued to be used for processing marine and freshwater resources across the transition to agriculture in this region. Although changes in pottery use are immediately evident, our data challenge the popular notions that economies were completely transformed with the arrival of farming and that Neolithic pottery was exclusively associated with produce from domesticated animals and plants.

Fig. 1.

Location of sites from where Late Mesolithic (EBK) and Early Neolithic (TRB) vessels were obtained. Inset shows the geographical extent of the EBK (A) and TRB (B) cultures and their typical vessel forms.

Fig. 2.

Bulk stable isotope analysis of charred surface deposits. (A) Bulk δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N data of surface residues removed from the inside of Late Mesolithic EBK vessels (open circles) and Early Neolithic TRB vessels (filled circles) from coastal (blue) and inland (green) sites. These data are compared with charred animal and plant products created experimentally by repeated use of replica pottery vessels. (B) A typical surface residue adhered to the rim of an EBK vessel.

Fig. 3.

Partial gas chromatograms of a typical absorbed residue from a Neolithic funnel beaker (N2804). (A) The major fatty acids (Cx:y) with carbon number (x) and number of unsaturations (y). IS, internal standard (tetratriacontane); P, a plasticiser contaminant. (B) Expanded to show more detail. TMTD, 4,8,12-trimethyltridecanoic acid, an isoprenoid acid found at high concentration in marine organisms (33). (C) The m/z 105 mass chromatogram of this sample, showing the range of ω-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids, produced from protracted heating of tri, di-, or monounsaturated fatty acids from the oils of marine organisms (14, 17), with carbon lengths 16 (open circles), 18 (filled circles), 20 (open stars), and 22 (filled stars). The structure of the most abundant isomer of ω-(ο-alkylphenyl)octadecanoic acid methyl ester is also shown. Methyl ester derivatives are shown, which were prepared from the total lipid extracts by using BF₃/MeOH complex (14% wt/vol).

Fig. 4.

Compound-specific stable isotope analysis of ceramic residues. δ¹³C values of individual C₁₆ and C₁₈ alkanoic acids extracted from authentic reference fats (A) and from Late Mesolithic EBK vessels (open circles) and Early Neolithic TRB vessels (filled circles) (B) from coastal (blue) and inland (green) sites. The marine and freshwater reference fats (A) were obtained from Danish coastal waters, rivers, and lakes; the terrestrial data, obtained from ref. , is complemented with wild boar and cows’ milk from Northern Germany. These data are plotted with 95% confidence ellipses (Systat; Version 13). The low amounts of saturated fats in marine oils make this analysis insensitive to marine products when they are mixed with more saturated terrestrial fats. However, the relative high C_16:0/C_18:0 ratio in marine fats and oils means that the C_16:0 is a more sensitive indicator of marine lipids in mixtures, as shown by a hypothetical mixing line between the mean values for ruminant milk fat and marine mammal blubber, with the percent contribution by weight of marine mammal (MM) marked. The δ¹³C_16:0 values of oils from freshwater species (n = 5), including a freshwater eel, could not be separated from terrestrially derived lipids (n = 42), but marine oils (n = 17) were significantly different from terrestrial and freshwater (one-way ANOVA; F = 3.15, P < 0.01).