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The Preservation and Identification of Piñon Resins by GC‐MS in Pottery from the Western Great Basin[Note 1. Received 5 March 2001; accepted 26 April 2001. ...]
Author(s) -
Eerkens J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/1475-4754.00045
Subject(s) - terpene , residue (chemistry) , pottery , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , mass spectrometry , archaeology , gas chromatography , chemistry , prehistory , chromatography , geography , organic chemistry
Gas chromatography — mass spectrometry analysis of a sherd from the Nevada Test Site revealed a high quantity of terpenes, including sesquiterpenoids and diterpenoids, demonstrating that piñon resins were prepared in the pot in prehistoric times. The presence of these biomarkers allowed for a very specific identification of the products prepared in the pot, a level of detail not often achieved in lipid residue analysis. That the terpenes are relatively unoxidized demonstrates that they are quite stable over long periods of time. The study also shows that sherds on the surface of archaeological sites can preserve lipids and terpenes and are amenable to organic residue analysis.