Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Charred organic matter has a high preservation potential and is common in archaeological sedimentary deposits and combustion features. It is an important part of the archaeological record, as it holds clues about food items, clothing, bedding, fuel and the natural vegetation associated with past human groups. However, it remains understudied. Although archaeologists are implementing an increasingly wide range of high-resolution geoarchaeological techniques to investigate anthropogenic fire and combustion residues in search of new sources of behavioral information, most of these techniques involve the inorganic (i.e., mineral) sedimentary record. In recent years, there has been a considerable advance in applied organic geochemistry research and there are several promising techniques at hand. This session brings together researchers investigating archaeological charred matter from a variety of geographic and chronological contexts and using a diversity of interdisciplinary approaches and techniques, such as soil micromorphology, spectroscopy and biomarker research.
Other Keywords
Geoarchaeology •
Paleolithic •
Archaeometry & Materials Analysis •
Historic •
Taphonomy and Site Formation •
Mobility •
Bone •
arctic •
Caves and Rockshelters •
Lipid Biomarkers
Geographic Keywords
Principality of Monaco (Country) •
Kingdom of Spain (Country) •
Principality of Andorra (Country) •
Gibraltar (Country) •
Portuguese Republic (Country) •
Republic of Botswana (Country) •
Republic of Namibia (Country) •
French Republic (Country) •
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nort (Country) •
Ireland (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)
- Documents (10)
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Charred Organic Matter in the Middle and Later Stone Record in South Africa: Exploring Multiple Anthropogenic Processes and Origins (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Middle and Later Stone caves and rockshelters in South Africa are commonly rich in organic matter. The formation history of the organic component in the archaeological deposits is still unclear and several natural and anthropogenic processes can be considered. This paper will focus on a discussion of possible anthropogenic...
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Chemical Diagenesis of Charcoal and Charred Organic Material in South African Middle Stone Age Rockshelter Sites (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Several South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites contain deposits rich in anthropogenic materials whose preservation was impacted by extreme burial environments. The specific chemistries of the burial environments are evidenced by dissolution of archaeological materials and/or precipitation of secondary minerals. In sites...
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Development of a Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) Method for the Analysis of Lipid Biomarkers in Archaeological Sedimentary Deposits (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The analysis of lipid biomarkers plays an important role in sedimentological studies because these compounds are representative of particular sources (plants, macrophytes, algae, bacteria, and animals) and are likely to persist after burial. Frequently, their analysis involves methodologies, such as ultrasound assisted...
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Epifluorescence Microscopy of Experimentally Heated Animal Bones: Applications to Archaeological Micromorphology (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Burned bones are an important constituent of the archaeological sedimentary record. Their presence is usually indicative of human activity and may provide information about past human behavior. In micromorphological thin sections, charred bone fragments may appear as opaque and amorphous, and extremely difficult to...
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Lipid Biomarkers Analysis in Cueva Pintada de Gáldar (Gran Canaria, Spain): A Study of Possibly Charred Organic Sediments (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cueva Pintada de Gáldar is a pre-european archaeological complex in Gran Canaria that was discovered in 1873 and nowadays is an Archaeological Park and Museum. It comprises a hillslope with numerous dwellings, some of them partially carved into the hill, and "Cueva Pintada", a ritual cave at the core of the settlement. The...
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Molecular and Compound-Specific Stable Isotope Analysis of FAMEs on Charred Plant Tissues: A Comparative Approach of Experimental and Archaeological Evidence (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. GC-C-IRMS analysis of FAMEs has been used successfully to distinguish among different animal fat groups. However, plant oils from different tissues (with the exception of seeds) have not been widely investigated even though organic residues from leaf, root, and wood tissues are preserved at archaeological sites (e.g....
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Molecular and Isotopic Analyses of Charred and Uncharred Sediments: Investigating Environmental Signatures at the Middle Palaeolithic Rock Shelter of Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain) (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Our understanding of Late Pleistocene Neanderthal habitats is largely based on anthracological and palynological reconstructions set within broader global climatic frameworks. This approach has yielded important environmental information, however, so far it has not been possible to identify fluctuations in climate or...
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Roques de García Rockshelter: Preliminary Results from Micromorphological and Biomarker Analysis from a Combustion Structure (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Roques the García rockshelter is an aboriginal site located in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Its archaeosedimentary sequence is characterised by a high presence of combustion structures. In this study we present the preliminary results from a micromorphological and biomarker analysis of one of the structures.
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Searching for Clues of Neanderthal Occupation and Mobility in Combustion Structure Residues: A Micromorphological and Biomarker Study of El Salt Unit Xb, Alcoy, Spain (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Neanderthal lithic and faunal record shows a short-term occupation, high mobility trend throughout Eurasia. Although combustion structures, which are numerous and well preserved in most Middle Paleolithic sites, play a central role in short-term occupations, they have not been sufficiently investigated from a...
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Sedimentary, Molecular, and Isotopic Characteristics of Bone-Fueled Hearths (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Charred Organic Matter in the Archaeological Sedimentary Record" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Molecular and isotopic analyses of sediments from archaeological combustion features is a relatively new area of study. Applications have the potential to inform us about ancient pyro-technologies and patterns of animal exploitation in a wide range of human contexts but may be particularly informative with regards to...