Background Residues: Pottery Firing and Lipid Persistence
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Modern absorbed pottery residue analysis depends in part on the assumption that original soil lipids are burned out of ceramic vessels to produce a blank slate in terms of residue analysis. Using this assumption, all lipids in a potsherd must derive from either vessel use or postdepositional interaction with soil lipids. In some cases, it appears that soil lipids from the original clay of a pot can persist throughout vessel firing and remain in the ceramic vessel, blurring the distinction between natural and anthropogenic lipids in an absorbed residue. Experimental production of pottery allows the investigation of this phenomenon.
