The impact of cooking and burial on proteins: a characterisation of experimental foodcrusts and ceramics ...

• Main Authors: Evans, Miranda, Hagan, Richard, Bondetti, Manon, Boyd, Oliver, Craig, Oliver E, Collins, Matthew J, Hendy, Jessica
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2024
• Subjects: 3101 Biochemistry and Cell Biology; 31 Biological Sciences; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.111010; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/372079

Foodcrusts have received relatively little attention in the burgeoning field of proteomic analysis of ancient cuisine. We remain ignorant of how cooking and burial impact protein survival, and crucially, the extent to which the extractome reflects the composition of input ingredients. Therefore, through experimental analogues we explore the extent of protein survival in unburied and buried foodcrusts and ceramics using ‘typical’ Mesolithic ingredients (red deer, Atlantic salmon and sweet chestnut). We then explore a number of physicochemical properties theorised to aid protein preservation. The results reveal that proteins were much more likely to be detected in foodcrusts than ceramics using the methodology employed, input ingredient strongly influences protein preservation, and that degradation is not universal nor linear between proteins, indicating that multiple protein physicochemical properties are at play. While certain properties such as hydrophobicity apparently aid protein preservation, none ...