Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) Study of the Archaeological Plant Mixture from an Elite Burial Mound of the Sargat Culture in the Middle Irtysh River Basin

Abstract

The article deals with the results of a study of a plant mixture from an ancient vessel found in the rich burial of the Isakovka I burial ground (the Gorkovsky district of the Omsk region, the right bank of the Irtysh River). According to archaeological material, the estimated date of the complex might be not earlier than the 1st–2nd centuries AD. The analysis of the substance was carried out by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC–MS) after acid methanolysis. The mixture contains aliphatic lipids (fatty acids, phytosterol), terpenes (monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes and triterpenes) derived apparently from the large amounts of essential oils and resins of plant origin. The presence of a number of diagnostic compounds in the mixture composition (boswellic acid derivatives, amyrins, lupeol) suggests that frankincense from Boswellia resin is included in the mixture. Since psychotropic substances (cannabinoids and nicotinoids) have not been found, this combination may be characteristic of an aroma mixture or incense based on frankincense from Boswellia.