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Eau et les cycles des éléments
Faculté des géosciences et de l'environnementInstitut des dynamiques de la surface terrestre
Water and element cycles
ACW station in Leytron (Valais)
A window on ancient Switzerland: organic biomolecules preserved in archaeological materials from waterlogged environments
From 1993 to 1995, rescue excavations at the site Arbon-Bleiche 3 in the SE shore of Lake Constance (Thurgau) conducted by the Cantonal Archaeo- logical Service unearthed 27 houses from a Neolithic lake-shore settlement, all built between 3384 and 3370 years BC.
Dairying farms 5400 years ago
10 m
Among the cultural remains associated with the plant and animal relicts were abundant fragments of unglazed ceramic vessels.
Ceramic vessels from Arbon-Bleiche 3
The chemistry of the organic residues in the matrix of the ceramic vessels reflects prehistoric food preparation or storage.
Carbon isotope composition of individual fatty acids in archaeological samples
Most archaeological samples plot in the stearic acid (δ13C18:0) versus palmitic (δ13C16:0) and oleic (δ13C18:1) reference fields for ruminant milk and joung suckling calf/lamb adipose. These results, combined with the predominance of found bones from very young suckling calves or senile (non lactating) cows, provides direct evidence for dairying during the late Neolithic in central Europe.
PigCalf/Lamb
Cattle
Dairying products
C3 plants
Deer
Fish
PigCalf/Lamb
Cattle
Dairying products
δ13C16:0 (‰, VPDB) δ13C18:1 (‰, VPDB)
δ13C
18:0 (‰
, VP
DB
)
Further reading: Spangenberg J.E., Jacomet S., Schibler J. (2006) Chemical analyses of organic residues in archaeological pot-tery from Arbon Bleiche 3, Switzerland - Evidence for dairying in the Late Neolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science, 33: 1-13.
CH
F
SLO
I
D
A
HR
SLO
A
HR Summer 2003
55 cm
12:0
14:0
15:0
16:0
18:0
18:1 20:0 22:0 24:0 17:0
21:0 23:0
Real
tive
abun
danc
e
Retention time (min)
Hunters wear goat-leather leggings 4900 years agoThe high amount of archaeological finds at the melting Schnidejoch ice field in the western Swiss Alps (altitude 2800 meters) suggests that this pass was part of one of the short-est and most used prehistoric transal-pine routes connecting Italy and the Neolithic settlements in the Rhone valley.
The most spectacular find was a big piece of leather (2914 BC) very well pre-served in situ, frozen in ice and snow, under anoxi conditions.
Phenols and lipids in the legging leather
OO
O O
16:0
18:0
O
OH
O
OH
9:0
10:0
18:1
O OH
HO OH
OHO OH
OH
O OH
F
JH
B
F
JH
B
-40
-38
-36
-34
-32
-30
-28
-26
-24
-22
-40 -38 -36 -34 -32 -30 -28 -26 -24 -22
F
J
H B F J H B
13C
18.1
(‰, V
PD
B)
13C16:0 (‰, VPDB)
Mule deer
Calf/cow Chamois
Goat Red deer
Wild boar Sheep
A B Neolithic legging
E. bronze shoe Neol. shoe sole Neolithic shoe
Further reading: Spangenberg J.E., Ferrer M., Tschudin P., Volken M. (2010) Microstructural, chemical and isotopic evidence for the origin of Late Neolithic leather recovered from an ice field in the Swiss Alps. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37: 1851-1865.
The Neolithic leather legging was made from goatskin. The phenolic compounds charcteristic of vascular plant tannins provide the first direct evidence for the use of aqueous extracts of higher plant material, including oak bark, wood, leaves, for tanning and curing leather in the Alpine region, 3d millennium BC.
81 c
m
The tools were maintained with vegetable oil 5200 years agoExcellently preserved animal bone and antler artifacts are numerous among the archaeological finds in Neolithic Alpine lakeshore settlements. Use-wear and pro-duction traces on the surface of these artifacts include cuttings and hammer or grinding traces; there are also large bright and shiny areas.
We have explored the origin of such shiny surfaces using molecular and isoto-pic analysis of the lipids staining freshly unearthed and non-conserved bone and antler artifacts from a recent (2011) exca-vation at Zurich Opera Parking, Late Neolithic settlement, 3230-2729 BC.
Further reading: Spangenberg J.E., Ferrer M., Jacomet S., Bleicher N., Schibler J. (2014_2) Molecular and isotopic character-ization of lipids staining bone and antler tools in the Late Neolithic settlement, Zurich Opera Parking, Switzerland. Organic Geo-chemistry, 69: 11-25.
B (handling part)
A (working part)
10 c
m
15 20 25 30 35 40 45
14:0
15:0
17:0
Me
14:0
Me
15:0
Me
16:0
18:2
18
:1
18:3
16:0
18:0
22:0
16:1
12:0
20:0
24:0
21:0
Me
13:0
15:1
18:2
20:4
15 20 25 30 35 40 45
14:0
15:0
17:0
20:0
Me
14:0
Me
15:0
Me
16:0
18:2
18
:1
18:3
16:0
18:0
22:0
24:0
20:4
16:1
21:0
n-alkanoic acid methyl alkanoic acid
n-alkenoic acid
Sleeve made from an antler of red deer (ZuOp-1891.3)
Extract A (working edge)
Extract B (handling edge)
13:0
The lipids on the surface of the artifacts are a mixture of C3 plant oils rich in linoleic acid (18:2) and indigenous animal lipids. In Neolithic Europe, the only C3 plants which may have been used to produce seed oils rich in 18:2 and/or 18:3 include the domestic plants Linum usitatissimum (flax).
Typical lipid distribution
BTJ
E
HB
T
F
AEH
C
BT
1
PSHC
-46
-41
-36
-31
-26
-21
-46 -41 -36 -31 -26 -21δ13C16:0 (‰, VPDB)
δ13 C
18:0
(‰, V
PD
B)
Pig
Calf/Lamb/Chamois
Cow
Deer
Fish
Dairying products
Goat
C3 plants
Real
tive
abun
danc
e
Retention time (min)
1
2
3
4
5
6 7
8
9 10
11
12
13
14
15
16
1718
O
OH912
Linolecic acid (18:2, ω6)
4
5
6 7
8
9 10
11
12
13
14
15
16
1718
O
OH912
3
2
1
15
Linolenic acid (18:3, ω3)
