Archaeologists from the University of Zurich and elsewhere have analyzed protein residues from ancient cooking cauldrons and found that the people of Caucasus ate deer, sheep, goats, and members of the cow family during the Maykop period (3700-2900 BCE).
Wilkin et al. analyzed protein residues from 5,000-year-old copper alloy cauldrons. Image credit: Arnaud 25 / CC BY-SA 4.0.
Many metal alloys have antimicrobial properties, which is why the proteins have been preserved so well on the cauldrons.
The microbes in dirt that would normally degrade proteins on surfaces such as ceramic and stone are held at bay on metal alloys.
“It’s really exciting to get an idea of what people were making in cauldrons so long ago,” said Dr. Shevan Wilkin, an archaeologist at the University of Zurich.
“This is the first evidence we have of preserved proteins of a feast – it’s a big cauldron. They were obviously making large meals, not just for individual families.”
“We have already established that people at the time most likely drank a soupy beer, but we did not know what was included on the main menu,” added Institute for the History of Material Culture archaeologist Viktor Trifonov.
For their study, the researchers collected eight residue samples from seven cauldrons from the Caucasus region.
They successfully retrieved proteins from blood, muscle tissue, and milk. One of these proteins, heat shock protein beta-1, indicates that the cauldrons were used to cook deer or bovine (cows, yaks, or water buffalo) tissues.
Milk proteins from either sheep or goats were also recovered, indicating that the cauldrons were used to prepare dairy.
Radiocarbon dating allowed the scientists to specifically pinpoint that the cauldrons could have been used between 3520-3350 BCE.
This means that these vessels are more than 3,000 years older than any vessels that have been analyzed before.
“It was a tiny sample of soot from the surface of the cauldron,” said Dr. Trifonov said.
“Maykop bronze cauldrons of the fourth millennium BCE are a rare and expensive item, a hereditary symbol belonging to the social elite.”
Although the cauldrons show signs of wear and tear from use, they also show signs of extensive repair.
“These metal vessels would have taken a particularly long time and a lot of skill to make, so it’s not very surprising to find that they were being used and cared for over an extended period of time. Perhaps more than a single generation,” said Dr. Peter Hommel, an archaeologist at the University of Liverpool.
“They were probably also important symbols of wealth or social position — perhaps a little like Le Creuset or Mauviel saucepans today!”
A paper desribing the results was published in the journal iScience.
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Shevan Wilkin et al. 2023. Curated cauldrons: Preserved proteins from early copper alloy vessels illuminate feasting practices in the Caucasian steppe. iScience, in press; doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107482
