Quantification and Distribution of Lipid in Archaeological Ceramics: Implications for Sampling Potsherds for Organic Residue Analysis and the Classification of Vessel Use

Organic residue analysis has been performed on 62 reconstructed vessels from a single archaeological site (Rounds, Northamptonshire, U.K.). In order to establish regions of lipid accumulation within a vessel, sherds were sampled from different parts of a vessel, for example base, body and rim, and submitted to lipid extraction procedures. The techniques of high‐temperature gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were then used to analyse the sherd lipid extracts. The quantitative results obtained show differential accumulation and preservation of lipid in various parts of the same vessel. This latter observation has serious implications for the sampling of potsherds for organic residue analysis. Furthermore, the amount of absorbed lipid varies quite considerably between vessel types. On this basis, a new method is proposed for classifying vessel use by comparing the concentration of lipid present in different parts of individual vessels.