Author, as appears in the article.: Breu A; Rosell-Melé A; Heron C; Antolín F; Borrell F; Edo M; Fontanals M; Molist M; Moraleda N; Oms FX; Tornero C; Vergès JM; Vicente O; Bach-Gómez A
Department: Història i Història de l'Art
URV's Author/s: Fontanals Torroja, Marta / Vergès Bosch, Josep Maria
Keywords: Pinaceae resin Organic residue analysis Iberian peninsula Early neolithic Chromatography-mass spectrometry spectroscopy settlement pinaceae resin organic residue analysis near-east lipid residues iberian peninsula holocene exploitation environment classification
Abstract: The use of resinous substances, certainly one of the earliest technologies developed by humans, was well-known by Holocene hunter-gatherers at the onset of the Neolithisation process across Europe. Recent research has revealed the use of birch bark tar in the central Mediterranean far from this taxon's endemic regions both in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods and shows that the first farmers from the Fertile Crescent hafted lithic tools and waterproofed artefacts using bitumen. The generalised absence of these natural products in south-western Europe may have thus forced a reformulation of Early Neolithic technologies by exploring and benefitting from existing knowledge in local European hunter-gatherer societies. However, information on resin use from the western Mediterranean is still scarce. Here, we report on the analysis of organic residues from 168 pottery sherds by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry from 10 archaeological sites in this region dating from the second half of the VIth millennium to the first half of the Vth millennium cal BC. In a limited number of samples, minor amounts of several diterpenoids diagnostic of aged Pinaceae resins were detected as mixtures with fats. The presence of pine in the palynological and carpological record supports the human exploitation of this taxon, but its minimal incidence in the anthracological record suggests that other species were selected as fuelwood. This supports the hypothesis that Pinaceae resins were used in association with pottery sporadically but ubiquitously either as its contents, or as post-firing treatments to waterproof the vessels. This demonstrates the development of adhesive technologies and resin-involved labour processes specific to Early Neolithic societies.
Thematic Areas: Science and technology studies History Geociências Ciencias sociales Ciencias humanas Archeology (arts and humanities) Archeology Archaeology
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Author's mail: josepmaria.verges@urv.cat marta.fontanals@urv.cat marta.fontanals@urv.cat
Record's date: 2024-08-03
Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Link to the original source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X22004072?via%3Dihub
Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Papper original source: Journal Of Archaeological Science: Reports. 47
APA: Breu A; Rosell-Melé A; Heron C; Antolín F; Borrell F; Edo M; Fontanals M; Molist M; Moraleda N; Oms FX; Tornero C; Vergès JM; Vicente O; Bach-Gómez A (2023). Resinous deposits in Early Neolithic pottery vessels from the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Journal Of Archaeological Science: Reports, 47(), -. DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103744
Article's DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103744
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2023
Publication Type: Journal Publications