Ancient proteins from ceramic vessels at Çatalhöyük West reveal the hidden cuisine of early farmers

Abstract

The analysis of lipids (fats, oils and waxes) absorbed within archaeological pottery has revolutionized the study of past diets and culinary practices. However, this technique can lack taxonomic and tissue specificity and is often unable to disentangle signatures resulting from the mixing of different food products. Here, we extract ancient proteins from ceramic vessels from the West Mound of the key early farming site of Çatalhöyük in Anatolia, revealing that this community processed mixes of cereals, pulses, dairy and meat products, and that particular vessels may have been reserved for specialized foods (e.g., cow milk and milk whey). Moreover, we demonstrate that dietary proteins can persist on archaeological artefacts for at least 8000 years, and that this approach can reveal past culinary practices with more taxonomic and tissue-specific clarity than has been possible with previous biomolecular techniques.

Fig. 1

Map of Çatalhöyük. a Site location and b site plan of Çatalhöyük, adapted from Hodder. Çatalhöyük consists of two distinct mounds; the East Mound, dating to ca. 7100–5900 cal BC^, , and the West Mound, dating to ca. 6000–5600 cal BC

Fig. 2

Examples of calcified deposits from modern and ancient vessels at Çatalhöyük. a Examples of CaCO₃ accretions from a modern tea water pot with extensive calcified deposits used near the research project compound Çatalhöyük, b a close-up of calcified deposits, c a relatively intact vessel (not analyzed in this study) demonstrating bowl shape and extent of calcified deposits and d a selection of four sherds analyzed in this study showing deposits adhering to the inside surface of the ceramic sherds

Fig. 3

Summary of dietary-derived protein identifications. The left graph summarizes proteins extracted from the ceramic matrix of the sherd’s interior wall and the right graph summarizes proteins extracted from calcified deposits adhering to the inner wall. Filled icons represent protein taxonomic assignments to the genus or species level, while transparent icons represent identifications to higher taxonomies (subfamily, family). In CW20 and CW27, haemoglobin was identified to the taxonomic level of Pecora. In CW24, the milk protein beta-lactoglobulin could be assigned to either Bovinae or Ovis

Fig. 4

Proteomic evidence of dairy products in vessels from Çatalhöyük West Mound. a The proportion of identified caseins (red), whey proteins (blue) and milk fat globule-associated proteins (yellow) in calcified deposits and inner-wall ceramic samples, b a schematic cladogram indicating the taxa of milk proteins extracted from samples of calcite and the inner ceramic vessel walls. Counts of identified dairy proteins are represented as scaled pie charts. For the Bovidae pie chart, black represents proteins assigned to Bovidae, while grey indicates those which could not be unambiguously assigned below Bovinae/Ovis. This is due to the presence of a genus-specific polymorphic amino acid in the identified peptide TPEVD(D/N/K)EALEK, where D is specific to Bovinae, N is specific to Ovis and K is specific to Capra. Because N deamidates to D, the presence of a D at this position cannot be unambiguously assigned to Bovinae or Ovis

Fig. 5

Lipid stable isotope characteristics from archaeological samples against theoretical mixes. a Plot of Δ¹³C against δ¹³C_16:0 compared with reference ranges for authentic plant, ruminant adipose and dairy fats (mean ± 1σ). Published isotope data from the East Mound (ca. 6800–6300 cal BC) of Çatalhöyük are displayed for comparison. Density distributions of Δ¹³C values obtained by theoretical mixing of b dairy and c ruminant adipose fats with an increasing amount of C₃ plant lipids