Compound-specific stable carbon isotopic detection of pig product processing in British Late Neolithic pottery

Abstract

By extracting lipids from potsherds and determining the δ 13 C of the most abundant fatty acids, degraded fats from ruminant animals, such as cattle, and non-ruminant animals, such as pigs, can be distinguished. The authors use this phenomenon to investigate Late Neolithic pig exploitation and find that the pig ‘signature’ was more frequently found among residues from Grooved Ware than other prehistoric pottery types.