Tracing Prehistoric Diets

International Research Team including Scientists at Freie Universität Berlin Analyzes Protein Residues in 8000-year-old Ceramic Vessels. No 257/2018 from Oct 03, 2018 Through an analysis of ceramic vessels, an international research team has gained insights into the dietary habits of inhabitants of a prehistoric settlement. They identified protein residues from cereals, legumes, dairy products, and meat in the almost 8,000-year-old vessels from the village of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. They were able to assign some proteins to specific plant and animal species. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Freie Universität Berlin, and the University of York (U.K.) participated in the project. The scientists analyzed shards from the West Mound in Çatalhöyük, which was inhabited from about 7100 BC until 5600 BC. The pottery shards date back to around 5900 BC to 5800 BC, near the end of the colonization period.