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Investigating the function of prehistoric stone bowls and griddle stones in the Aleutian Islands by lipid residue analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2018

Marjolein Admiraal ,
Alexandre Lucquin ,
Matthew von Tersch ,
Peter D. Jordan  and
Oliver E. Craig
Marjolein Admiraal*
Affiliation:
Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, Aweg 30, 9718 CW Groningen, The Netherlands
Alexandre Lucquin
Affiliation:
BioArCh, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Matthew von Tersch
Affiliation:
BioArCh, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
Peter D. Jordan
Affiliation:
Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, Aweg 30, 9718 CW Groningen, The Netherlands
Oliver E. Craig
Affiliation:
BioArCh, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author at: Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, Aweg 30, 9718 CW Groningen, The Netherlands. E-mail address: m.admiraal@rug.nl (M. Admiraal).
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Abstract

The earliest durable cooking technologies found in Alaska are stone bowls and griddle stones recovered from the Aleutian Islands. This article aims to identify the function of these artefacts. Molecular and chemical analyses of carbonised residues found on their surfaces confirm that these artefacts were used to process marine resources. Both artefacts have high lipid content and C:N ratios, suggesting they were used to process oily substances. Stable isotope results of individual lipids suggest that they were used to process different sets of resources within the aquatic spectrum as griddle stones have slightly more 13C-depleted lipids than stone bowls, possibly indicating more variable use. Integration of these results with archaeological and ethnographic data leads us to infer that griddle stones were used for cooking a diversity of aquatic resources, possibly with the addition of plant foods, whereas stone bowls were specifically used to render marine mammal fats. We further hypothesize that a sudden peak in stone bowl frequencies at 4000–3000 cal yr BP was connected to a Neoglacial cold spell bringing sea ice conditions to the Aleutian Islands. This may have led to new subsistence strategies in which the rendering of marine mammal fats played a central role.

Keywords

Durable container technologiesAleutian IslandsStone bowlsGriddle stonesOil renderingCookingLipid residue analysisCompound specific isotopesMaritime adaptationNeoglacial
Type
Aleutians Special Issue
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , May 2019 , pp. 1003 - 1015
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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