Toward an understanding of the exchange in ancient scented oils through organic residue analysis of Bronze Age Near Eastern ceramic bottles by GC-MS

Abstract

This paper presents a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) organic residue analysis (ORA) of samples extracted from five Early Bronze Age ceramic bottles excavated at the archaeological site of Kulluoba in Anatolia (modern Turkey), and the first attempt at directly analysing the content of this category of products. Our results show that various types of liquid have been contained in different bottles and identify the presence of dicarboxylic and oleic acids with a large amount of palmitic acid in most samples, suggesting that they may have mostly contained a plant-based oil. The presence of diterpenoids further shows the addition of ingredients such as conifer resin and other plant-derived products. Overall, the analytical results presented here indicate the exchange of scented oils in Anatolia already during the late third millennium BCE. The different organic residue profiles contained in different samples also suggest a range of different recipes for these products.