A Nondestructive Natural Residue Analysis of Wari Ceramics using the Droplet Probe

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Plant Exudates and Other Binders, Adhesives, and Coatings in the Americas" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Analyzing ceramics from ancient cultures, many of which are degraded or damaged from hundreds or thousands of years of weathering, present some unique challenges. Mass spectrometry coupled with separation techniques such as liquid chromatography provides a means to analyze residues on artifacts. However, most well-known analytical techniques usually cause at least some amount of destruction of the material during the preparation phase. This can lead to the loss of valuable spatial information about an artifact and can cause inability for further analysis. We present a test case of using a nondestructive LC-MS technique, termed the droplet-liquid microjunction-surface sampling probe (i.e., droplet probe), for studying the chemistry of ancient Peruvian sherds. This method combines the benefits of mass spectrometry with the collection of chromatographic data, which affords more complex residue analysis. Three naturally occurring plant secondary metabolites—aurantiamide acetate, aurantiamide benzoate, and aurantiamide—were identified on the surface of a vessel and a spoon sherd from the central highlands of Peru. The detected natural compounds can shed light on what range of raw or prepared foods and liquids were used with the ancient Andean vessels/utensils.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Plant Exudates and Other Binders, Adhesives, and Coatings in the Americas   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33655