Current Science

Supriyo Kumar Das ¹, Santanu Ghosh ¹, Sven Isaksson ², Kerstin Liden ², Arunabha Dey ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Geology, Presidency University, Kolkata 700 073, IN
2 Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, SE

Abstract

Organic residue, often amorphous or invisible to the naked eye, cannot be characterized by using traditional archaeological techniques. Such residues are a result of plant and animal product processing either by heating or due to mechanical action^1-4. Organic residues, in contrast to the food crusts, are often better preserved in the mineral matrices of the pottery fabric that protect the organic molecules from microbiological degradation^4,5. The biomolecular components of organic residue are used as a tool to identify the source of the residue⁶, and to glean information on economic and subsistence practices associated with prehistoric cultural and technological traditions^4,7-9. This makes organic residue analysis a well-established tool in geoarchaeology.

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