Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway
No Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and bulk carbon isotope determinations have been performed on samples ('cemented organic residues', charcoal, sediment and fire-cracked rock) excavated from twelve slab-lined pits from various locations in Arctic Norway to test the premise th...
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ftunivbradford:oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/4798 2024-04-21T07:53:39+00:00 Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway Heron, Carl P. Nilsen, G. Stern, Ben Craig, O.E. Nordby, C.C. 2010 http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4798 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.016 en eng Heron CP, Nilsen G, Stern B et al (2010) Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in 'slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway. Journal of Archaeological Science. 37(9): 2188-2197. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4798 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.016 Organic residues Slab-lined pits Article No full-text available in the repository 2010 ftunivbradford https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.016 2024-03-27T15:40:00Z No Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and bulk carbon isotope determinations have been performed on samples ('cemented organic residues', charcoal, sediment and fire-cracked rock) excavated from twelve slab-lined pits from various locations in Arctic Norway to test the premise that these archaeological features were used for the extraction of oil from the blubber of marine mammals, such as seal, whale and walrus. A wide range of lipid compound classes were detected especially in the cemented organic residues and in the charcoal samples. The presence of long-chain unsaturated and isoprenoid fatty acids together with oxidation and thermal alteration products of unsaturated acids such as dicarboxylic acids, dihydroxyfatty acids and ω-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids suggests that these features were used for marine oil extraction at elevated temperatures. Notably the location of the hydroxyl groups in the dihydroxyfatty acids provides a record of the positional isomer of the precursor fatty acid and allows confirmation that 11-docosenoic (cetoleic) acid, the most abundant C22:1 isomer in marine oil, was a major component of the original lipid. Further information was provided by the presence of long-chain fatty acyl moieties in surviving triacylglycerols and the presence of cholesterol. A fungal metabolite, mycose (trehalose), was found in all samples apart from a fire-cracked rock and points to microbiological activity in the pits. Bulk isotope analysis conducted on the 'cemented organic residues' is consistent with modern reference samples of blubber and oil from seal and whale. These data provide clear analytical evidence of the function of slab-lined pits in the archaeological record and suggest widespread exploitation of marine mammals for producing oil for heating, lighting and myriad other uses in the past. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic walrus* Bradford Scholars@University of Bradford Journal of Archaeological Science 37 9 2188 2197 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Bradford Scholars@University of Bradford |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbradford |
language |
English |
topic |
Organic residues Slab-lined pits |
spellingShingle |
Organic residues Slab-lined pits Heron, Carl P. Nilsen, G. Stern, Ben Craig, O.E. Nordby, C.C. Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway |
topic_facet |
Organic residues Slab-lined pits |
description |
No Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and bulk carbon isotope determinations have been performed on samples ('cemented organic residues', charcoal, sediment and fire-cracked rock) excavated from twelve slab-lined pits from various locations in Arctic Norway to test the premise that these archaeological features were used for the extraction of oil from the blubber of marine mammals, such as seal, whale and walrus. A wide range of lipid compound classes were detected especially in the cemented organic residues and in the charcoal samples. The presence of long-chain unsaturated and isoprenoid fatty acids together with oxidation and thermal alteration products of unsaturated acids such as dicarboxylic acids, dihydroxyfatty acids and ω-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids suggests that these features were used for marine oil extraction at elevated temperatures. Notably the location of the hydroxyl groups in the dihydroxyfatty acids provides a record of the positional isomer of the precursor fatty acid and allows confirmation that 11-docosenoic (cetoleic) acid, the most abundant C22:1 isomer in marine oil, was a major component of the original lipid. Further information was provided by the presence of long-chain fatty acyl moieties in surviving triacylglycerols and the presence of cholesterol. A fungal metabolite, mycose (trehalose), was found in all samples apart from a fire-cracked rock and points to microbiological activity in the pits. Bulk isotope analysis conducted on the 'cemented organic residues' is consistent with modern reference samples of blubber and oil from seal and whale. These data provide clear analytical evidence of the function of slab-lined pits in the archaeological record and suggest widespread exploitation of marine mammals for producing oil for heating, lighting and myriad other uses in the past. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heron, Carl P. Nilsen, G. Stern, Ben Craig, O.E. Nordby, C.C. |
author_facet |
Heron, Carl P. Nilsen, G. Stern, Ben Craig, O.E. Nordby, C.C. |
author_sort |
Heron, Carl P. |
title |
Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway |
title_short |
Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway |
title_full |
Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway |
title_fullStr |
Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway |
title_sort |
gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in `slab-lined pits' from arctic norway |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4798 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.016 |
genre |
Arctic walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic walrus* |
op_relation |
Heron CP, Nilsen G, Stern B et al (2010) Gas chromatographic, mass spectrometric and stable carbon isotope investigations of organic residues in 'slab-lined pits' from Arctic Norway. Journal of Archaeological Science. 37(9): 2188-2197. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4798 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.016 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.03.016 |
container_title |
Journal of Archaeological Science |
container_volume |
37 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2188 |
op_container_end_page |
2197 |
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1796936673536245760 |