Abstract
The role of aquatic resources in ancient economies and paleodiet is important for understanding the evolution of prehistorical societies. Charred food remains from ancient pottery are valuable molecular evidence of dietary habits in antiquity. However, conventional archaeometric approaches applied in their analysis lack organismal specificity, are affected by abundant environmental contaminants, do not elucidate food processing recipes and are limited in the inland regions where diverse dietary resources are available. We performed proteomics analysis of charred organic deposits adhered on early ceramics from Mesolithic-Neolithic inland site Friesack 4 (Brandenburg, Germany). One of pots—a small coarse bowl radiocarbon dated to the end of the 5th millennium BC—was attributed to Endmesolithic pottery. Proteomics of foodcrust from this vessel identified fine carp roe meal and revealed details of a prehistorical culinary recipe. Ancient proteins were unequivocally distinguished from contemporary contaminants by computing deamidation ratios of glutamine residues. These data paint a broader picture of the site-specific exploitation of aquatic resources and contribute to better understanding of the dietary context of Neolithic transition in European inland.
Highlights
The major inducements underlying developments in prehistorical societies were access and use of natural resources, which played a key role in Neolithic transition across Europe
Attribution and 14C radiocarbon dating of ceramics #3251.1, #3157.1 and #3078 were reported previously [24, 25] whereas the pottery #3258 was not analysed. #3258 comprised 12 middle-size to small potshards originating from same vessel which was broken during excavation
Coarse ceramic fragments of conical bowl #3258 and S-shaped vessel #3157 assigned to the Friesack-Boberger group is the oldest pottery found at the Friesack 4
Summary
The major inducements underlying developments in prehistorical societies were access and use of natural resources, which played a key role in Neolithic transition across Europe. The role of aquatic resources during this critical phase in European prehistory remains in the focus of longstanding debates regarding inland regions [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Inland prehistorical localities were often situated close to rivers or lakeshores. It is conceivable that fish and water plants were a part of the diet of their inhabitants their general subsistence strategies did not necessarily rely on freshwater resources [7].
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