Lipid residues preserved in sheltered bedrock features at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico

  • Tammy Buonasera University of Arizona
Keywords: ground stone, bedrock mortars, cupules, Gila Cliff Dwellings, GC/MS, lipid analysis

Abstract


[Research Article]

Bedrock features represent various economic, social, and symbolic aspects of past societies, but have historically received little study, particularly in North America. Fortunately, new techniques for analyzing spatial configurations, use-wear, and organic residues are beginning to unlock more of the interpretive potential of these features. Though preliminary in nature, the present study contributes to this trend by documenting an application of lipid analysis to bedrock features in a dry rockshelter. Results of this initial application indicate that bedrock features in dry rockshelters may provide especially favorable conditions for the preservation and interpretation of ancient organic residues. Abundant lipids, comparable to concentrations present in some pottery sherds, were extracted from a bedrock grinding surface at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Though the lipids were highly oxidized, degradation products indicative of former unsaturated fatty acids were retained. Comparisons to experimentally aged residues, and absence of a known biomarker for maize, indicate that the bulk of the lipids preserved in the milling surface probably derive from processing an oily nut or seed resource, and not from processing maize. Substantially lower amounts of lipids were recovered from a small, blackened cupule. It is hypothesized that some portion of the lipids in the blackened cupule was deposited from condensed smoke of cooking and heating fires in the caves. Potential for the preservation of organic residues in similar sheltered bedrock contexts is discussed, and a practical method for sampling bedrock features in the field is described.

Author Biography

Tammy Buonasera, University of Arizona

Research Associate

School of Anthropology

References

Adams, J.L. 1988, Use-wear analysis on manos and hide-processing stones. Journal of Field Archaeology, 15(3): 307-315. doi:10.2307/530311
Adams, K., & Huckell, L. 1986, Plant remains. In: The Archaeology of Gila Cliff Dwellings, (Anderson, K. M., Fenner, G. J., Morris, D. P., Teague, G., & McKusick, C., Eds.), Publications in Anthropology Vol. 36, Western Archeological Conservation Center, Tucson: p. 277-317.
Anderson, K.M., Fenner, G.J., Morris, D.P., Teague, G., & McKusick, C., (Eds.), 1986, The Archaeology of Gila Cliff Dwellings, Publications in Anthropology Vol. 36, Western Archeological Conservation Center, Tucson, 363 p.
Badami, R.C., & Patil, K.P. 1981, Structure and occurrence of unusual fatty acids in minor seed oils. Progress in Lipid Research, 19: 119-153. doi:10.1016/0163-7827(80)90002-8
Barrett, S.A. 1952, Material aspects of Pomo culture. Bulletin of the Museum of the City of Milwaukee, Vol. 20, Parts 1 and 2. North American Press, Milwaukee, 507 p.
Bednarik, R.G. 2008, Cupules. Rock Art Research, 25(1): 61-100.
Berstan, R., Stott, A.W., Minnitt, S., Bronk-Ramsey, C., Hedges, R.E.M., & Evershed, R.P. 2008, Direct dating of pottery from its organic residues: New precision using compound specific carbon isotopes. Antiquity, 82(317): 702-713. doi:10.1017/s0003598x00097325
Birk, J.J., Teixeira, W.G., Neves, E.G., & Glasser, B. 2011, Faeces Deposition on Amazonian Anthrosols as Assessed from 5B-stanols. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(6): 1209-1220. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.12.015
Bull, I.D., Simpson, I.A., Dockrill, S.J., & Evershed, R.P. 1999, Organic geochemical evidence for the origin of ancient anthropogenic soil deposits at Tofts Ness, Sanday, Orkney. Organic Geochemistry, 30: 535-556. doi:10.1016/S0146-6380(99)00020-0
Buonasera, T.Y. 2005, Fatty acid analysis of prehistoric burned rocks: A case study from central California. Journal of Archaeological Science, 32(6): 957-965. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2005.01.012
Buonasera, T.Y. 2007, Investigating the presence of ancient absorbed organic residues in groundstone using GC/MS and other analytical techniques: A residue study of several prehistoric milling tools from central California. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34(9): 1379-1390. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.028
Buonasera, T.Y. 2013a, Extracting new information from old experiments: GC/MS analysis of lipid residues in aged experimental grinding tools. SAS Bulletin, 36(1): 2-7.
Buonasera, T.Y. 2013b, Lipid residues preserved in cupules and grinding features in dry caves at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico. In: Expanding Archaeological Approaches to Ground Stone: Modeling Manufacturing Costs, Analyzing Absorbed Organic Residues, and Exploring Social Dimensions of Milling Tools, (Buonasera, T.Y.), Doctor of Philosophy dissertation at the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson: p. 65-101.
Buonasera, T.Y., Tremayne, A.H., Darwent, C. M., Eerkens, J.W., & Mason, O.W. 2015, Lipid biomarkers and compound specific δ13C analysis indicate early development of a dual-economic system for the Arctic Small Tool tradition in northern Alaska. Journal of Archaeological Science, 61: 129-138. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.05.011
Burton, M. 2003, Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of organic residues in ceramic and ground stone artifacts from INY-1317 and INY-1991. In: Lacustrine Lifestyles Along Owens Lake: NRHP Evaluation of 15 Prehistoric Sites for the Olancha/Cartago Four-Lane Project, U.S. Route 395, Inyo County, California, (Byrd, B.F. & Hale, M., Eds.), Report Prepared for California Department of Transportation, Central California Cultural Resources Branch, Encinitas: p. 515-535.
Colombini, M.P., Modugno, F., & Ribechini, E. 2005, Organic mass spectrometry in archaeology: Evidence for Brassicaceae seed oil in Egyptian ceramic lamps. Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 40: 890-898. doi:10.1002/jms.865
Condamin, J.F., Formenti, M.O., Metais, M.M., & Blond, P. 1976, The application of gas chromatography to the tracing of oil in ancient amphorae. Archaeometry, 18(2): 195-201. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1976.tb00160.x
Copley, M.S., Berstan, R., Dudd, S.N., Docherty, G., Mukherjee, A.J., Straker, V., Payne, S., & Evershed, R.P. 2003, Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(4): 1524-1529. doi:10.1073/pnas.0335955100
Craig, O.E., & Collins, M.J. 2002, The removal of protein from mineral surfaces: implications for residue analysis of archaeological materials. Journal of Archaeological Science, 29: 1077-1082. doi:10.1006/jasc.2001.0757
Craig, O.E., Forster, M., Andersen, S.H., Koch, E., Crombé, P., Milner, N.J., Stern, B., Bailey, G.N., & Heron, C.P. 2007, Molecular and isotopic demonstration of the processing of aquatic products in Northern European prehistoric pottery. Archaeometry, 49(1): 135-152. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2007.00292.x
Craig, O.E., Love, G.D., Isaksson, S., Taylor, G., & Snape, C.E. 2004, Stable carbon isotopic characterisation of free and bound constituents of archaeological ceramic vessels released by solvent extraction, alkaline hydrolysis and catalytic hydropyrolysis. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 71: 613-634. doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2003.09.001
Dubreuil, L., & Grossman, L. 2009, Ochre and hide-working at a Natufian burial place. Antiquity, 83(322): 935-954. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00099269
Dubreuil, L., & Savage, D. 2013, Ground stones: a synthesis of the use-wear approach. Journal of Archaeological Science, 48: 139-153. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2013.06.023
Dubreuil, L., Savage, D., Delgado-Raack, S., Plisson, H., Stephenson, B., & de la Torre, I. 2015, Current analytical frameworks for studies of use-wear on ground stone tools. In: Use-Wear and Residue Analysis in Archaeology, (Marreios, J.M., Gibaja Bao, J.F., & Ferreira, N., Eds.), Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory, and Technique. Springer International, Switzerland, p. 105-157. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08257-8_7
Dudd, S.N., & Evershed, R.P. 1998, Direct demonstration of milk as an element of archaeological economies. Science, 282: 1478-1481. doi:10.1126/science.282.5393.1478
Duwe, S. 2011. The Prehispanic Tewa World: Space, Time, and Becoming in the Pueblo Southwest. Ph.D Dissertation at the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, 690 p.
Eerkens, J.W. 2005, GC-MS analysis of fatty acid ratios of archaeological potsherds from the western Great Basin of North America. Archaeometry, 47(1): 83-102. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2005.00189.x
Eitam, D. 2009, Late Epipalaeolithic rock-cut installations and groundstone tools in the southern Levant. Paleorient, 35(1): 75-104. doi:10.3406/paleo.2009.5279
Evershed, R.P. 1993, Biomolecular archaeology and lipids. World Archaeology, 25(1): 74-93. doi:10.1080/00438243.1993.9980229
Evershed, R.P. 2008a, Experimental approaches to the interpretation of absorbed organic residues in archaeological ceramics. World Archaeology, 40(1): 26-47. doi:10.1080/00438240801889373
Evershed, R.P. 2008b, Organic residue analysis in archaeology: the archaeological biomarker revolution. Archaeometry, 50(6): 895-924. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00446.x
Evershed, R.P., Heron, C., Charters, S., & Goad, L.J. 1992, The survival of food residues: new methods of analysis, interpretation and application. Proceedings of the British Academy, 77: 187-208. URL: http://www.britac.ac.uk/pubs/proc/files/77p187.pdf
Fowler, C.S. 1976, The processing of ricegrass by Great Basin Indians. Mentzelia, 2: 2-4.
Gilreath, A. 2007, Rock art in the golden state: pictographs, petroglyphs, portable and panoramic. In: California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture Change, and Complexity, (Jones, T.L., & Klar, K.A., Eds.), Alta Mira Press, Lanham, Maryland: p. 273-290.
Gunstone, F. 1999, Fatty Acid and Lipid Chemistry. Aspen Publishers, Inc., Maryland, 252 p.
Hansel, F.A., Copley, M.S., Madureira, L.A.S., & Evershed, R.P. 2004, Thermally produced ω-(o-alkylphenyl) alkanoic acids provide evidence for the processing of marine products in archaeological pottery vessels. Tetrahedron Letters, 45: 2999-3002. doi:10.1016/j.tetlet.2004.01.111
Hansel, F.A., & Evershed, R.P. 2009, Formation of dihydroxy acids from z-monounsaturated alkenoic acids and their use as biomarkers for the processing of marine commodities in archaeological pottery vessels. Tetrahedron Letters, 50(40): 5562-5564. doi:10.1016/j.tetlet.2009.06.114
Hawthorne, S.B., Miller, D.J., Barkley, R.M., & Krieger, M.S. 1988, Identification of methoxylated phenols as candidate tracers for anthropogenic wood smoke pollution. Environmental Science and Technology, 22(10): 1191-1196. doi:10.1021/es00175a011
Heron, C., & Evershed, R.P. 1993, The analysis of organic residues, and the study of pottery use. Archaeological Method and Theory, 5: 247-284. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20170233
Heron, C., Nilsen, G., Stern, B., Craig, O., & Nordby, C. 2010, Application of lipid biomarker analysis to evaluate the function of ‘slab-lined pits’ in arctic Norway. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(9): 2188-2197. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.016
Hjulstrom, B., & Isaksson, S. 2009, Identification of activity area signatures in a reconstructed Iron Age house by combining element and lipid analyses of sediments. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(1): 174-183. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2008.08.005
Horsfall, G. 1987, Design theory and grinding stones. In: Lithic Studies among the Contemporary Highland Maya, (Hayden, B., Ed.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson: p. 332-377.
Jackson, T.L. 1991, Pounding acorn: women’s production as social and economic focus. In: Engendering Archaeology: Women and Prehistory, (Gero, J. M., & Conkey, M. W., Eds.), Blackwell, Cambridge: p. 301-324.
Kedrowski, B.L., Crass, B.A., Behm, J.A., Luetke, J.C., Nichols, A.L., Moreck, A.M., Holmes, C.E. 2009, GC/MS analysis of fatty acids from ancient hearth residues at the Swan Point archaeological site. Archaeometry, 51(1): 110-122. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00384.x
Lambert, S.J. 1990, Results of XRD Analysis of Some Cave Deposits at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Report on file at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Silver City, New Mexico, 4 p.
Leftwich, B.M. 2010, Set in Stone: Bedrock Mortars and Behavior in the North-Central Sierra Nevada. Ph.D Dissertation at the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 398 p.
McKusick, C.R. 1986, Faunal remains. In: The Archaeology of Gila Cliff Dwellings, (Anderson, K.M., Fenner, G.J., Morris, D.P., Teague, G., & McKusick, C., Eds.), Publications in Anthropology 36, Western Archeological Conservation Center, Tucson: p. 245-272.
Mikolajczak, K.L., Freidinger, R.M., Smith, C.R., Wolff, J.R., & Wolff, I.A. 1968, Oxygenated fatty acids of oil from sunflower seeds after prolonged storage. Lipids, 3(6): 489-494. doi:10.1007/BF02530891
Millan, F., Vioque, E., & Maza, M.P. 1983, Study of the neutral lipids of sunflower meal and isolates. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society, 60(7): 1321-1325. doi:10.1007/BF02702109
Morgan, E.D., Titus, L., Small, R.J., & Edwards, C. 1984, Gas chromatographic analysis of fatty material from a Thule Midden. Archaeometry, 26(1): 43-48. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1984.tb00316.x
Nadel, D., Filin, S., Rosenberg, D., & Miller, V. 2015, Prehistoric bedrock features: recent advances in 3D characterization and geometrical analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science, 53: 331-344. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.10.029
Nadel, D., & Lengyel, G. 2009, Human-made bedrock holes (mortars and cupmarks) as a Late Naufian social phenomenon. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, 37(2): 37-48. doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2009.08.012
Naeher, L.P., Brauer, M., Lipsett, M., Zelikoff, J.T., Simpson, C.D., Koenig, J.Q., & Smith, K.R. 2007. Woodsmoke health effects: a review. Inhalation Toxicology, 19(1): 67-106. doi:10.1080/08958370600985875
Namdar, D., Stacey, R., & Simpson, S. 2009, First results on thermally induced porosity in chlorite cooking vessels from Merv (Turkmenistan) and implications for the formation and preservation of archaeological lipid residues. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(11): 2507-2516. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.07.003
Nordby, L. 2011, The Architecture of Gila Cliff Dwellings. Report on file at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Silver City, New Mexico, 80 p.
Parkman, B.E. 1986, Cupule petroglyphs in the Diablo Range, California. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 8(2): 246-259.
Passi, S., Picardo, M., DeLuca, C., Nazarro-Porro, M., Rossi, L., & Rotilio, G. 1993, Saturated dicarboxylic acids as products of unsaturated fatty acid oxidation. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1168(2): 190-198. doi:10.1016/0005-2760(93)90124-R
Rafferty, S.M. 2002, Identification of nicotine by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy analysis of smoking pipe residue. Journal of Archaeological Science, 29(8): 897-907. doi:10.1006/jasc.2001.0747
Rafferty, S.M. 2006, Evidence of early tobacco in northeastern North America? Journal of Archaeological Science, 33: 453-458. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2005.08.006
Reber, E.A., Dudd, S.N., van der Merwe, N.J., & Evershed, R.P. 2004, Direct detection of maize in pottery residues via compound specific stable carbon isotope analysis. Antiquity, 78(301): 682-691. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00113316
Regert, M. 2011, Analytical strategies for discriminating archaeological fatty substances from animal origin. Mass Spectrometry Reviews, 30(2): 177-220. doi:10.1002/mas.20271
Regert, M., Bland, H.A., Dudd, S.N., van Bergen, P.F., & Evershed, R.P. 1998, Free and bound fatty acid oxidation products in archaelogical vessels. Proceedings of the Royal Society, 265(1409): 2027-2032. doi:10.1098/rspb.1998.0536
Rosenberg, D. & Nadel, D. 2014, The sounds of pounding: boulder mortars and their significance to Natufian burial customs. Current Anthropology 55(6): 1-29. doi:10.1086/679287
Schroth, A.B. 1996, An ethnographic review of grinding, pounding, pulverizing, and smoothing with stones. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly, 32(4): 55-75. URL: http://www.pcas.org/vol32n4/324schr.pdf
Simoneit, B.R.T., Rogge, W.F., Lang, Q., & Jaffe, R. 2000, Molecular characterization of smoke from campfire burning of pine wood (Pinus elliottii). Chemosphere: Global Change Science, 2(1): 107-122. doi:10.1016/S1465-9972(99)00048-3
Sistiaga, A., Berna, F., Laursen, R., & Goldberg, P. 2014, Steroidal biomarker analysis of a 14,000 years old putative human coprolite from Paisley Cave, Oregon. Journal of Archaeological Science, 41: 813-817. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.016
Standley, L.J., & Simoneit, B.R.T. 1987, Characterization of extractable plant wax, resin, and thermally matured components in smoke particles from prescribed burns. Environmental Science and Technology, 21: 163-169. doi:10.1021/es00156a006
Stott, A.W., Berstan, R., Evershed, R.P., Hedges, R.E.M, Bronk-Ramsey, C., & Humm, M.J. 2001, Radiocarbon dating of single compounds isolated from pottery cooking vessel residues. Radiocarbon, 43(2A): 191-197. URL: https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/view/3954/
Stott, A.W., Berstan, R., Evershed, R.P., Bronk-Ramsey, C., Hedges, R.E.M., & Humm, M.J. 2003, Direct dating of archaeological pottery by compound-specific 14C analysis of preserved lipids. Analytical Chemistry, 75(19): 5037-5045. doi:10.1021/ac020743y
Tushingham, S., Ardura, D., Eerkens, J.W., Palazoglu, M., & Shahbaz, S. 2013, Hunter-gatherer tobacco smoking: earliest evidence from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(2): 1397-1407. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.09.019
Published
31-Oct-2016
How to Cite
Buonasera, T. (2016). Lipid residues preserved in sheltered bedrock features at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico. Journal of Lithic Studies, 3(3), 78-101. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.v3i3.1304
Section
Presented at the 1st Meeting of the Association for Ground Stone Tools Research