Curated cauldrons: Preserved proteins from early copper-alloy vessels illuminate feasting practices in the Caucasian steppe

Shevan Wilkin; Peter Hommel; Alicia Ventresca Miller; Nicole Boivin; Antonella Pedergnana; Natalia Shishlina; Viktor Trifonov

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107482

Curated cauldrons: Preserved proteins from early copper-alloy vessels illuminate feasting practices in the Caucasian steppe

iScience. 2023 Aug 24;26(9):107482. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107482. eCollection 2023 Sep 15.

Authors

Shevan Wilkin^{1

2

3}, Peter Hommel⁴, Alicia Ventresca Miller^{5

6}, Nicole Boivin^{2

7

8

9}, Antonella Pedergnana¹, Natalia Shishlina^{10

11}, Viktor Trifonov¹²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany.
³ Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁴ Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
⁵ Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁶ Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁷ Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
⁸ School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁹ Griffith Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
¹⁰ State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia.
¹¹ Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera), St Petersburg, Russia.
¹² Institute for the History of Material Culture, St Petersburg, Russia.

Abstract

Large metal and metal-alloy cauldrons first appear on the far western steppe and Caucasus region during the Maykop period (3700-2900 BCE); however, the types of foods or beverages cooked in and served from these vessels have remained mysterious. Here, we present proteomic analysis of nine residues from copper-alloy cauldrons from Maykop burial contexts where we identify muscle, blood, and milk proteins specific to domesticated, and possibly wild, ruminants. This study clearly demonstrates that the earliest, large-volume feasting vessels contained both primary and secondary animal products, likely prepared in the form of a stew.

Keywords: Archeology; Paleobiochemistry.