Processing palm fruits in the Nile Valley — biomolecular evidence from Qasr Ibrim

While palaeobotanical remains provide clear evidence for the exploitation of the date at various locations in Egypt and Nubia, it is the detection amongst lipid residues in closed form vessels of fatty acid distributions dominated by diagnostic short-chain fatty acids, i.e. C 12:0 and C 14:0′ that provides the first direct evidence for the processing of palm fruit in pottery vessels.