Eleanora A Reber
Biographic Data
| ID | 284292 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Eleanora A Reber |
| GIVEN NAMES | Eleanora A |
| FAMILY NAME | Reber |
| SIGNATURE | REBER E A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of North Carolina Wilmington |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4867-6993 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 89 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Revealing micro-environmental subsistence diversity in the Southern Andes through organic residue analysis in pottery (Tucumán, Argentina, 200–800 CE)
The spread of agropastoralism in the South-Central Andes involved diverse local adaptations that are often difficult to detect due to poor preservation of organic remains. To address this challenge, we conducted a large-scale organic residue study of 172 Formative Period (200–800 CE) pots from three contemporaneous villages in the Tafí Valley, northwestern Argentina. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), compound-specific isotope an…
Does form entail function? Understanding pottery functionalities through absorbed residues within ceramics from the Harappan sites of Karanpura and Ropar in India
The Harappan Culture emerged in the Indus-Saraswati Region, with sites spreading over present-day northwest India, Gujarat, Pakistan, and Afghanistan between 2600 and 1900 BCE. Harappan sites have yielded extensive structural and material culture discoveries and diverse pottery assemblages, making it clear that it was an important and complex urban society extending over a wide area for more than 700 years. Harappan pottery, well-studied by vario…
A Functional Analysis of Fabric-Impressed Pans from the Middle Cumberland Region of Tennessee
In the Mississippian Southeast and Midwest, large fabric-impressed pans have traditionally been associated with the evaporation of brine to make salt. Although many of these vessels were undoubtedly used for this purpose, their presence at non-salt-making sites suggests that they sometimes served other functions. Using compound-specific isotope analysis, a sample of 74 fabric-impressed pan sherds from 12 sites in the Middle Cumberland Region of T…
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS): Applications in Archaeology
Molecular evidence of changing foodways across the Mississippian transition at the George Reeves site (11S650)
Eleanora A. Rebera* , John E. Kellyb, Elizabeth Boswella & Chad S. Lanec a Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USAb Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USAc Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
Lipid Residues from Low‐Fired Pottery
This paper assesses the fate of lipids associated with low‐temperature and pit‐fired pottery to determine to what degree organic compounds persist or are removed during short‐firing episodes below 800 °C. Three different types of clay were fired using contrasting techniques including at 400 °C for 4 h in a muffle furnace, and pit‐firing in which pottery was fired to higher temperatures but for shorter periods of time. Total lipid extracts obtaine…
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS): Applications in Archaeology
Absorbed Residue Analysis of a Mississippi Plain Jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1): Lipid Distribution Revisited
For the first time in North American archaeology, absorbed residue analysis was conducted on multiple samples from the same vessel, a complete Mississippi Plain jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1). This approach provided comprehensive, residue-based interpretations of the form and function of a single pot. The Mississippi Plain jar was recovered from a burnt house floor along with the broken remains of a similar vessel and burnt maize. Qualitative and …
Sun Circles and Science: Negative Painted Pottery from Angel Mounds (12Vg1)
The Angel Mounds site has the largest number of negative painted pottery sherds of any single site in the Eastern Woodlands. Previous research by Sherri Hilgeman (1985, 1991, 2000) on this pottery type has provided a detailed description of its variation in form, style, and age. Her investigation also attempted to determine its function and method of manufacture, utilizing ethnohistorical and experimental archaeology data. This article summarizes…
Modeling Freshwater Reservoir Offsets on Radiocarbon-Dated Charred Cooking Residues
Obtaining radiocarbon assays on objects of chronological interest is always preferable to obtaining assays on spatially associated charcoal. The development of Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) dating has expanded the number of objects that can be directly assayed because it requires only a few milligrams of material. Pottery can be directly assayed when charred cooking residues adhering to the interior walls are present. The accuracy of AMS ag…
The persistence of caffeine in experimentally produced black drink residues
Direct Determination of the Contents of a Ceramic Bottle from the Moundville Site, Alabama
A complete subglobular bottle was excavated from a linear feature at the Moundville site in the Black Warrior Valley of Alabama, dating to A.D. 1200–1500. Absorbed residue from the bottle and soil contained within the vessel were extracted, analyzed, and compared with residue from soil outside of the bottle. The residues suggest that the bottle was buried containing a stew or soup made with meat and a wide range of plants, rather than a tea or ri…
Pine Resins and Pottery Sealing: Analysis of Absorbed and Visible Pottery Residues From Central New York State
Pine Resins and Pottery Sealing: Analysis of Absorbed and Visible Pottery Residues From Central New York State
Analysis was performed on absorbed and visible residues from 21 New York State prehistoric pottery sherds dating from 2905 ± 35 bp (Intcal04) (1256–998 cal bc ) to 425 ± 40 bp (Intcal04) (1417–1626 cal ad ). The use of pine resin was detected in 10 of 12 absorbed residue samples and 11 of 17 sherds subjected to visible residue analysis. It seems likely that the pots were resin‐sealed to make them more impermeable, constituting the first chemical …
Taking Variation Seriously: Testing the Steatite Mast-Processing Hypothesis with Microbotanical Data from the Hunter's Home Site, New York
In a series of recent publications, Truncer (1999, 2004a, 2004b, 2006) presents a hypothesis that during what he interprets as the peak period of use (2500-1500 cal. B.C.) in eastern North America, steatite (soapstone) vessels were specialized cooking tools used to process mast. A key component of Truncer's hypothesis building is his interpretation of an analysis of fatty acids extracted from charred residue adhering to four steatite sherds, whic…
People of the Shoals: Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley
People of the Shoals: Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley. Kenneth E. Sassaman. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006. 193 pp
How Did Mississippians Prepare Maize? The Application of Compound‐Specific Carbon Isotope Analysis to Absorbed Pottery Residues From Several Mississippi Valley Sites
A newly developed compound‐specific stable carbon isotope technique allows the detection of maize in absorbed organic pottery residues. This method was applied to absorbed organic residues from a variety of Mississippi Valley potsherds, and successfully identified maize components. Maize was cooked in sampled vessels less often than expected, but otherwise fitted expected patterns of maize use derived from stable carbon isotope analysis of human …
Direct detection of maize in pottery residues via compound specific stable carbon isotope analysis
Discovering what was cooked in a pot by identifying lipids trapped in the potsherds has been a highly successful method developed in recent years. Here the authors identify a compound which shows the pots had been used to process maize - probably the most important foodstuff in later prehistoric North America. The uptake of maize is confirmed as coincident with the Mississippian fluorescence
Identification of maize in absorbed organic residues: A cautionary tale
What Did They Eat
Identification of maize in absorbed organic residues: A cautionary tale
Lipid Residues from Low‐Fired Pottery
This paper assesses the fate of lipids associated with low‐temperature and pit‐fired pottery to determine to what degree organic compounds persist or are removed during short‐firing episodes below 800 °C. Three different types of clay were fired using contrasting techniques including at 400 °C for 4 h in a muffle furnace, and pit‐firing in which pottery was fired to higher temperatures but for shorter periods of time. Total lipid extracts obtaine…
Direct detection of maize in pottery residues via compound specific stable carbon isotope analysis
Discovering what was cooked in a pot by identifying lipids trapped in the potsherds has been a highly successful method developed in recent years. Here the authors identify a compound which shows the pots had been used to process maize - probably the most important foodstuff in later prehistoric North America. The uptake of maize is confirmed as coincident with the Mississippian fluorescence
Modeling Freshwater Reservoir Offsets on Radiocarbon-Dated Charred Cooking Residues
Obtaining radiocarbon assays on objects of chronological interest is always preferable to obtaining assays on spatially associated charcoal. The development of Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) dating has expanded the number of objects that can be directly assayed because it requires only a few milligrams of material. Pottery can be directly assayed when charred cooking residues adhering to the interior walls are present. The accuracy of AMS ag…
Taking Variation Seriously: Testing the Steatite Mast-Processing Hypothesis with Microbotanical Data from the Hunter's Home Site, New York
In a series of recent publications, Truncer (1999, 2004a, 2004b, 2006) presents a hypothesis that during what he interprets as the peak period of use (2500-1500 cal. B.C.) in eastern North America, steatite (soapstone) vessels were specialized cooking tools used to process mast. A key component of Truncer's hypothesis building is his interpretation of an analysis of fatty acids extracted from charred residue adhering to four steatite sherds, whic…
The persistence of caffeine in experimentally produced black drink residues
How Did Mississippians Prepare Maize? The Application of Compound‐Specific Carbon Isotope Analysis to Absorbed Pottery Residues From Several Mississippi Valley Sites
A newly developed compound‐specific stable carbon isotope technique allows the detection of maize in absorbed organic pottery residues. This method was applied to absorbed organic residues from a variety of Mississippi Valley potsherds, and successfully identified maize components. Maize was cooked in sampled vessels less often than expected, but otherwise fitted expected patterns of maize use derived from stable carbon isotope analysis of human …
Absorbed Residue Analysis of a Mississippi Plain Jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1): Lipid Distribution Revisited
For the first time in North American archaeology, absorbed residue analysis was conducted on multiple samples from the same vessel, a complete Mississippi Plain jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1). This approach provided comprehensive, residue-based interpretations of the form and function of a single pot. The Mississippi Plain jar was recovered from a burnt house floor along with the broken remains of a similar vessel and burnt maize. Qualitative and …
People of the Shoals: Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley
People of the Shoals: Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley. Kenneth E. Sassaman. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006. 193 pp
Molecular evidence of changing foodways across the Mississippian transition at the George Reeves site (11S650)
Eleanora A. Rebera* , John E. Kellyb, Elizabeth Boswella & Chad S. Lanec a Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USAb Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USAc Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
Sun Circles and Science: Negative Painted Pottery from Angel Mounds (12Vg1)
The Angel Mounds site has the largest number of negative painted pottery sherds of any single site in the Eastern Woodlands. Previous research by Sherri Hilgeman (1985, 1991, 2000) on this pottery type has provided a detailed description of its variation in form, style, and age. Her investigation also attempted to determine its function and method of manufacture, utilizing ethnohistorical and experimental archaeology data. This article summarizes…
Direct Determination of the Contents of a Ceramic Bottle from the Moundville Site, Alabama
A complete subglobular bottle was excavated from a linear feature at the Moundville site in the Black Warrior Valley of Alabama, dating to A.D. 1200–1500. Absorbed residue from the bottle and soil contained within the vessel were extracted, analyzed, and compared with residue from soil outside of the bottle. The residues suggest that the bottle was buried containing a stew or soup made with meat and a wide range of plants, rather than a tea or ri…
What Did They Eat
Identification of maize in absorbed organic residues: A cautionary tale
How Did Mississippians Prepare Maize? The Application of Compound‐Specific Carbon Isotope Analysis to Absorbed Pottery Residues From Several Mississippi Valley Sites
A newly developed compound‐specific stable carbon isotope technique allows the detection of maize in absorbed organic pottery residues. This method was applied to absorbed organic residues from a variety of Mississippi Valley potsherds, and successfully identified maize components. Maize was cooked in sampled vessels less often than expected, but otherwise fitted expected patterns of maize use derived from stable carbon isotope analysis of human …
Direct detection of maize in pottery residues via compound specific stable carbon isotope analysis
Discovering what was cooked in a pot by identifying lipids trapped in the potsherds has been a highly successful method developed in recent years. Here the authors identify a compound which shows the pots had been used to process maize - probably the most important foodstuff in later prehistoric North America. The uptake of maize is confirmed as coincident with the Mississippian fluorescence
People of the Shoals: Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley
People of the Shoals: Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley. Kenneth E. Sassaman. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006. 193 pp
Pine Resins and Pottery Sealing: Analysis of Absorbed and Visible Pottery Residues From Central New York State
Pine Resins and Pottery Sealing: Analysis of Absorbed and Visible Pottery Residues From Central New York State
Analysis was performed on absorbed and visible residues from 21 New York State prehistoric pottery sherds dating from 2905 ± 35 bp (Intcal04) (1256–998 cal bc ) to 425 ± 40 bp (Intcal04) (1417–1626 cal ad ). The use of pine resin was detected in 10 of 12 absorbed residue samples and 11 of 17 sherds subjected to visible residue analysis. It seems likely that the pots were resin‐sealed to make them more impermeable, constituting the first chemical …
Taking Variation Seriously: Testing the Steatite Mast-Processing Hypothesis with Microbotanical Data from the Hunter's Home Site, New York
In a series of recent publications, Truncer (1999, 2004a, 2004b, 2006) presents a hypothesis that during what he interprets as the peak period of use (2500-1500 cal. B.C.) in eastern North America, steatite (soapstone) vessels were specialized cooking tools used to process mast. A key component of Truncer's hypothesis building is his interpretation of an analysis of fatty acids extracted from charred residue adhering to four steatite sherds, whic…
Direct Determination of the Contents of a Ceramic Bottle from the Moundville Site, Alabama
A complete subglobular bottle was excavated from a linear feature at the Moundville site in the Black Warrior Valley of Alabama, dating to A.D. 1200–1500. Absorbed residue from the bottle and soil contained within the vessel were extracted, analyzed, and compared with residue from soil outside of the bottle. The residues suggest that the bottle was buried containing a stew or soup made with meat and a wide range of plants, rather than a tea or ri…
The persistence of caffeine in experimentally produced black drink residues
Sun Circles and Science: Negative Painted Pottery from Angel Mounds (12Vg1)
The Angel Mounds site has the largest number of negative painted pottery sherds of any single site in the Eastern Woodlands. Previous research by Sherri Hilgeman (1985, 1991, 2000) on this pottery type has provided a detailed description of its variation in form, style, and age. Her investigation also attempted to determine its function and method of manufacture, utilizing ethnohistorical and experimental archaeology data. This article summarizes…
Modeling Freshwater Reservoir Offsets on Radiocarbon-Dated Charred Cooking Residues
Obtaining radiocarbon assays on objects of chronological interest is always preferable to obtaining assays on spatially associated charcoal. The development of Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) dating has expanded the number of objects that can be directly assayed because it requires only a few milligrams of material. Pottery can be directly assayed when charred cooking residues adhering to the interior walls are present. The accuracy of AMS ag…
Absorbed Residue Analysis of a Mississippi Plain Jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1): Lipid Distribution Revisited
For the first time in North American archaeology, absorbed residue analysis was conducted on multiple samples from the same vessel, a complete Mississippi Plain jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1). This approach provided comprehensive, residue-based interpretations of the form and function of a single pot. The Mississippi Plain jar was recovered from a burnt house floor along with the broken remains of a similar vessel and burnt maize. Qualitative and …
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS): Applications in Archaeology
Lipid Residues from Low‐Fired Pottery
This paper assesses the fate of lipids associated with low‐temperature and pit‐fired pottery to determine to what degree organic compounds persist or are removed during short‐firing episodes below 800 °C. Three different types of clay were fired using contrasting techniques including at 400 °C for 4 h in a muffle furnace, and pit‐firing in which pottery was fired to higher temperatures but for shorter periods of time. Total lipid extracts obtaine…
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS): Applications in Archaeology
Molecular evidence of changing foodways across the Mississippian transition at the George Reeves site (11S650)
Eleanora A. Rebera* , John E. Kellyb, Elizabeth Boswella & Chad S. Lanec a Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USAb Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USAc Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
Does form entail function? Understanding pottery functionalities through absorbed residues within ceramics from the Harappan sites of Karanpura and Ropar in India
The Harappan Culture emerged in the Indus-Saraswati Region, with sites spreading over present-day northwest India, Gujarat, Pakistan, and Afghanistan between 2600 and 1900 BCE. Harappan sites have yielded extensive structural and material culture discoveries and diverse pottery assemblages, making it clear that it was an important and complex urban society extending over a wide area for more than 700 years. Harappan pottery, well-studied by vario…
A Functional Analysis of Fabric-Impressed Pans from the Middle Cumberland Region of Tennessee
In the Mississippian Southeast and Midwest, large fabric-impressed pans have traditionally been associated with the evaporation of brine to make salt. Although many of these vessels were undoubtedly used for this purpose, their presence at non-salt-making sites suggests that they sometimes served other functions. Using compound-specific isotope analysis, a sample of 74 fabric-impressed pan sherds from 12 sites in the Middle Cumberland Region of T…
Revealing micro-environmental subsistence diversity in the Southern Andes through organic residue analysis in pottery (Tucumán, Argentina, 200–800 CE)
The spread of agropastoralism in the South-Central Andes involved diverse local adaptations that are often difficult to detect due to poor preservation of organic remains. To address this challenge, we conducted a large-scale organic residue study of 172 Formative Period (200–800 CE) pots from three contemporaneous villages in the Tafí Valley, northwestern Argentina. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), compound-specific isotope an…
Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (16 works) · Archaeology (13 works) · Geography (12 works) · Chemistry (10 works) · Pottery (9 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (8 works) · Biology (7 works) · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis (7 works) · Isotope Analysis in Ecology (7 works) · Geology (5 works)