Abstract
Cooking technique reflects a combination of cultural and technological factors; here, we attempt to constrain bivalve cooking temperatures for a pre-Columbian Puerto Rican native population using carbonate clumped isotopes. Analyses of 24 bivalve specimens (Phacoides pectinatus) from a shell midden in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, suggest that samples were heated up to 200°C, indicating that roasting rather than boiling may have been the preferred cooking technique. More than half of analyzed samples exhibited a distinct change from modern uncooked shells, possibly reflecting different cooking techniques or the use of a single method wherein shells are unevenly heated, such as when placed on a heated surface. Roasting bivalves would not necessitate the use of ceramic technologies, an observation concurrent with the absence of such artifacts at this site.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | eaaw5447 |
| Journal | Science Advances |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 27 2019 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
- General
Cite this
Boiled or roasted? Bivalve cooking methods of early Puerto Ricans elucidated using clumped isotopes. / Staudigel, Philip T.; Swart, Peter K.; Pourmand, Ali; Laguer-Díaz, Carmen A.; Pestle, William J.
In: Science Advances, Vol. 5, No. 11, eaaw5447, 27.11.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Boiled or roasted? Bivalve cooking methods of early Puerto Ricans elucidated using clumped isotopes
AU - Staudigel, Philip T.
AU - Swart, Peter K.
AU - Pourmand, Ali
AU - Laguer-Díaz, Carmen A.
AU - Pestle, William J.
PY - 2019/11/27
Y1 - 2019/11/27
N2 - Cooking technique reflects a combination of cultural and technological factors; here, we attempt to constrain bivalve cooking temperatures for a pre-Columbian Puerto Rican native population using carbonate clumped isotopes. Analyses of 24 bivalve specimens (Phacoides pectinatus) from a shell midden in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, suggest that samples were heated up to 200°C, indicating that roasting rather than boiling may have been the preferred cooking technique. More than half of analyzed samples exhibited a distinct change from modern uncooked shells, possibly reflecting different cooking techniques or the use of a single method wherein shells are unevenly heated, such as when placed on a heated surface. Roasting bivalves would not necessitate the use of ceramic technologies, an observation concurrent with the absence of such artifacts at this site.
AB - Cooking technique reflects a combination of cultural and technological factors; here, we attempt to constrain bivalve cooking temperatures for a pre-Columbian Puerto Rican native population using carbonate clumped isotopes. Analyses of 24 bivalve specimens (Phacoides pectinatus) from a shell midden in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, suggest that samples were heated up to 200°C, indicating that roasting rather than boiling may have been the preferred cooking technique. More than half of analyzed samples exhibited a distinct change from modern uncooked shells, possibly reflecting different cooking techniques or the use of a single method wherein shells are unevenly heated, such as when placed on a heated surface. Roasting bivalves would not necessitate the use of ceramic technologies, an observation concurrent with the absence of such artifacts at this site.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076352937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85076352937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aaw5447
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aaw5447
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85076352937
VL - 5
JO - Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Physics
JF - Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Physics
SN - 0019-5596
IS - 11
M1 - eaaw5447
ER -