Multi-purpose pots: Reconstructing early farmer behaviour at Lydenburg Heads site, South Africa, using organic residue analysis

About 2000 years ago, Bantu-speaking people introduced an agro-pastoral lifeway into southern Africa and lived in northern and eastern lowland parts of the region by 700 CE. Also defined as the 'southern African Iron Age', pottery is the most common and diagnostic artefact category. The soil chemistry of several farming sites resulted in poor faunal preservation and especially within Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, the possibilities for dietary reconstructions based on bone assemblages is very limited. Furthermore, the majority of ceramic research on early farming communities (ca. 200-900 CE) has focused on typology and ethnoarchaeological interpretations. This study represents the first application of Organic Residue Analysis (ORA) applied to southern African early farming pottery to gain a deeper understanding of past human behaviour and subsistence patterns. We investigate the potential and evaluate future prospects of applying this method to southern African early farming pottery. A combined lipid biomarker (GC-MS) and compound specific isotope approach (GC-C-IRMS) was applied to pottery sherds (n = 40) from the Lydenburg Heads site (LHS), dating to the 7th century CE (Mzonjani facies) and 9th to 11th centuries CE (Doornkop facies), to test for lipid preservation, trace possible vessel use and dietary changes through time and embed the research data within the faunal and botanical record available. Our study provides first evidence for the processing of dairy products by early farmers in southern Africa. Both facies imply multi-purpose functionality of the ceramics tested, demonstrated by the mixing of animal fats and plant oils. The obtained ORA data from LHS confirms the processing of ruminant carcass fats within both occupation facies, likely representing domestic animal fats, as well as the processing of wild nonruminant carcass fats within the earlier Mzonjani facies. The identification of ricinoleic acid in two vessels of the Doornkop facies, provides evidence for potential medicinal use. Preliminary data also indicate that dung could have been involved in different forms of pottery sealing and/or mending during both occupation facies. In this study, we begin to explore biomolecular evidence for dietary choices made by early farmers in southern Africa, shedding light on previously unexplored key products.

Automated summary

This study represents the first application of Organic Residue Analysis (ORA) to southern African early farming pottery to gain a deeper understanding of past human behavior and subsistence patterns. The study found evidence of dairy processing and multi-purpose functionality of the ceramics. It also discovered potential medicinal use and the involvement of dung in pottery sealing and mending.