ORGANIC RESIDUE ANALYSIS IN ARCHAEOLOGY: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL BIOMARKER REVOLUTION*

TLDR

Organic residue analysis uses chemical separation and mass spectrometry to identify biomolecular components of invisible or amorphous remains, revealing the chemical fingerprints of past human activity. The method applies chromatographic separation followed by mass spectrometric identification to detect preserved and altered biomolecules in residues.

Abstract

Organic residue analysis utilizes analytical organic chemical techniques to identify the nature and origins of organic remains that cannot be characterized using traditional techniques of archaeological investigation (because they are either amorphous or invisible). The field is founded upon the principle that the biomolecular, or biochemical, components of organic materials associated with human activity survive in a wide variety of locations and deposits at archaeological sites. The archaeological information contained in organic residues is represented by the biomolecular components of the natural products that contribute to the formation of a given residue. By applying appropriate separation (chromatographic) and identification (mass spectrometric) techniques, the preserved, and altered, biomolecular components of such residues can be revealed. Once identified, the Archaeological Biomarker Concept can be applied, wherein the structure and even isotopic composition(s) of a given biomolecule or suite of biomolecules (the ‘chemical fingerprint’) can be related to the compositions of organisms exploited by humans in the past. As the organic residue field emerges from its pre‐paradigmatic phase, and the organic residue revolution gathers pace, the way is open for challenging many long‐held archaeological hypotheses and offering new perspectives on the study of human activity in the past.