Lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels from the Bronze Age site of Konoplyanka

The detection and characterisation of lipids trapped in pottery vessels provides a means of elucidating pottery use and subsistence strategies at an archaeological site (Evershed 2008; Roffet-Salque et al. 2017). The occurrence of resins, beeswax and plant products is rare in prehistoric Europe but provide direct evidence for past use of natural resources (Roffet-Salque et al. 2015; Rageot et al. 2016). In contrast, animal-derived fats occur widely in prehistoric pottery sherds, with compound-specific isotopic analyses (δ13C) of the two major fatty acids present in animal fats allowing non-ruminant fats to be distinguished from ruminant fats, and carcass from dairy fats (Dudd/Evershed 1998; Copley et al. 2003). To date, several thousand potsherds from prehistoric Eurasia have been investigated, allowing subsistence practices and herding strategies to be unravelled (Evershed et al. 2008b; Outram et al. 2009; Mileto et al. 2017). The detection of biomarkers characteristic of aquatic fats (Cramp/Evershed 2014) provide means to investigate the importance of aquatic resources for Prehistoric communities (Craig et al. 2011; Craig et al. 2013; Cramp et al. 2014). The analyses of pottery sherds from the Bronze Age site of Konoplyanka for lipids provide a unique opportunity for investigating subsistence practices at this site of the Sintashta Culture.