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GC/MS ANALYSIS OF FATTY ACIDS FROM ANCIENT HEARTH RESIDUES AT THE SWAN POINT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE *
Author(s) -
KEDROWSKI B. L.,
CRASS B. A.,
BEHM J. A.,
LUETKE J. C.,
NICHOLS A. L.,
MORECK A. M.,
HOLMES C. E.
Publication year - 2009
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/j.1475-4754.2008.00384.x
Subject(s) - hearth , chemistry , monogastric , gas chromatography , fatty acid , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , ruminant , mass spectrometry , chromatography , archaeology , environmental chemistry , nutrient , biology , pasture , biochemistry , organic chemistry , ecology , plant nutrition , geography
Gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is used to analyse soil residues from hearth sites in Swan Point, Alaska. An experimental hearth is also prepared by burning animal bones to study the characteristics of bone fires and the lipid residues that they leave embedded in soil. Hearth soil samples are derivatized with HCl in methanol to convert bound and unbound fatty acids into methyl esters. Concentrations of saturated fatty acid methyl esters in the samples are determined and their ratios analysed. The fatty acid patterns found in ancient campfires are consistent with burning bones of large ruminants as well as monogastric herbivores.