Kohl, a dark eye cosmetic, is a well-known part of Ancient Egyptian culture. Modern chemical analyses of kohls have largely found lead-based inorganic constituents, whereas earlier studies argued for ...a much broader range of constituents. Furthermore, organic materials in kohls remain severely understudied. This raises questions regarding the true diversity of materials and recipes used to produce kohls. We analysed the contents of 11 kohl containers from the Petrie Museum collection in London. The objects selected cover a broad range of times and locations in Egypt. Our multi-analytical approach allowed us to characterise both inorganic and organic components. Our data show that inorganic ingredients in kohl recipes are not only lead-based but also manganese- and silicon-based. Our analyses also revealed that organic ingredients derived from both plant and animal sources were commonly used in kohl recipes and sometimes even represent the main constituent. All these findings point towards more varied recipes than initially thought and significantly shift our understanding of Ancient Egyptian kohls.
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Since the early 2000's, archaeological excavations in the Nenjiang River Basin have led to the discovery of some of the oldest pottery assemblages in northeast China. The main objective of the DPhil ...research presented here is to understand what role vessel technology played in human lives over an extended time span regarding diets, food preferences, and human environmental interactions in this region. Pottery analysed in this thesis comes from the site of Houtaomuga 后套木嘎 located in the Lower Nen River Valley on the Song-Nen Plain, Jilin province northeast China. Using molecular and isotopic analysis, this thesis characterised lipids extracted from archaeological pottery using advanced analytical methodologies to understand pottery use at the initial implementation of the technology and over the course of the Neolithic. Results of lipid residue analysis presented as a part of this research were also described in context with other regions in northeast Asia, such as Russia's Far East and Japan, which also have pottery bearing hunter-gather sites from the Neolithic which are contemporaneous. Before turning to the analysis of the archaeological material from Houtaomuga, this thesis undertook a method optimisation to understand the efficiency and limitations of current techniques. This method development ensures that the method of analysis was adequate to answer proposed research questions prior to sampling and will improve upon methods for lipid residue analysis which are currently standard practice within archaeological science. As a result, this thesis presents the first extensive application of non-destructive supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of ancient lipid residues followed by isotopic characterisation. Results indicate this novel method workflow is comparable to current methods which are highly destructive to ceramic artifacts. By using this workflow, it was determined that pottery at Houtaomuga was primarily used for cooking aquatic molluscs and C3 plant resources. While other proxies indicate that human diets at Houtaomuga were highly diverse, pottery use was highly specified for all four phases of Neolithic occupation of the site, suggesting people preferentially chose certain foods or dish types to prepare in vessels.
The development of pastoralism transformed human diets and societies in grasslands worldwide. The long-term success of cattle herding in Africa has been sustained by dynamic food systems, consumption ...of a broad range of primary and secondary livestock products, and the evolution of lactase persistence (LP), which allows digestion of lactose into adulthood and enables the milkbased, high-protein, low-calorie diets characteristic of contemporary pastoralists. Despite the presence of multiple alleles associated with LP in ancient and present-day eastern African populations, the contexts for selection for LP and the long-term development of pastoralist foodways in this region remain unclear. Pastoral Neolithic (c. 5000 to 1200 BP) faunas indicate that herders relied on cattle, sheep, and goats and some hunting, but direct information on milk consumption, plant use, and broader culinary patterns is rare. Combined chemical and isotopic analysis of ceramic sherds (n = 125) from Pastoral Neolithic archaeological contexts in Kenya and Tanzania, using compound-specific δ13C and Δ13C values of the major fatty acids, provides chemical evidence for milk, meat, and plant processing by ancient herding societies in eastern Africa. These data provide the earliest direct evidence for milk product consumption and reveal a history of reliance on animal products and other nutrients, likely extracted through soups or stews, and plant foods. They document a 5,000-y temporal framework for eastern Africa pastoralist cuisines and cultural contexts for selection for alleles distinctive of LP in eastern Africa.
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