Helen L Whelton
Biographic Data
| ID | 3584956 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Helen L Whelton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Helen L |
| FAMILY NAME | Whelton |
| SIGNATURE | WHELTON H L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0844-9916 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 123 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
A call for caution in the analysis of lipids and other small biomolecules from archaeological contexts
Finding Oxford's medieval Jewry using organic residue analysis, faunal records and historical documents
Food is often one of the most distinctive expressions of social, religious, cultural or ethnic groups. However, the archaeological identification of specific religious dietary practices, including the Jewish tradition of keepingkosher, associated with ritual food practices and taboos, is very rare. This is arguably one of the oldest known diets across the world and, for an observant Jew, maintaining dietary laws (known as Kashruth) is a fundament…
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…
Strong bias towards carcass product processing at Neolithic settlements in northern Greece revealed through absorbed lipid residues of archaeological pottery
Strontium isotope evidence for human mobility in the Neolithic of northern Greece
Strontium isotope ratios are widely used in archaeology to differentiate between local and non-local populations. Herein, strontium isotope ratios of 36 human tooth enamels from seven archaeological sites spanning the Early to Late Neolithic of northern Greece (7th–5th millennia B.C.E.) were analysed with the aim of providing new information relating to the movement of humans across the region. Local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr signals were establishe…
Pastoralist Foodways Recorded in Organic Residues from Pottery Vessels of Modern Communities in Samburu, Kenya
Organic residue analyses of archaeological ceramics can provide important insights into ancient foodways. To date, however, there has been little critical reflection on how lipid residues might (or might not) reflect dietary practices or subsistence strategies more generally. A combination of ethnoarchaeological research and chemical and isotopic analyses of lipid residues from pottery made and used by modern Samburu pastoralists in northern Keny…
New Research at Paisley Caves
Paisley Caves in Oregon has become well known due to early dates, and human presence in the form of coprolites, found to contain ancient human DNA. Questions remain over whether the coprolites themselves are human, or whether the DNA is mobile in the sediments. This brief introduces new research applying an integrated analytical approach combining sediment micromorphology and lipid biomarker analysis, which aims to resolve these problems
Differing modes of animal exploitation in North-Pontic Eneolithic and Bronze Age Societies
This paper presents new results of an interdisciplinary investigation of the diet and subsistence strategies of populations living in the North-Pontic region during the Eneolithic and the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3800 BC to the 2500 BC). New organic residue analyses of >200 sherds from five Eneolithic sites and two Early Bronze Age settlements are presented. The molecular and stable isotope results are discussed in relation to zooarchaeological evid…
Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean
Significance This unique research combines the analyses of lipid residues in pottery vessels with slaughter profiles for domesticated ruminants to provide compelling evidence for diverse subsistence strategies in the northern Mediterranean basin during the Neolithic. Our findings show that the exploitation and processing of milk varied across the region, although most communities began to exploit milk as soon as domesticates were introduced betwe…
From the inside out
The investigation of organic residues associated with archaeological pottery using modern analytical chemical methods began in the 1970s. It was recognised early on that the analysis of lipids (i.e. fats, waxes and resins) preserved in surface residues or the fabric of single potsherds, representative of single vessels, was a powerful method for ascertaining pottery use, with a high degree of specificity. Subsequent developments saw a significant…
Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers
Contrasting Patterns of Resource Exploitation on the Outer Hebrides and Northern Isles of Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Norse Period Revealed through Organic Residues in Pottery
This paper presents the findings from an investigation of organic residues extracted from pottery sherds from Late Iron Age and Norse phases from Bornais, South Uist, and the Late Norse period from Jarlshof on Shetland. These data confirm intensive and/or specialized processing of marine products in pottery on Shetland, either for consumption or other uses, such as rendering of oil from fish livers. In contrast, at Bornais, little increase in the…
A call for caution in the analysis of lipids and other small biomolecules from archaeological contexts
From the inside out
The investigation of organic residues associated with archaeological pottery using modern analytical chemical methods began in the 1970s. It was recognised early on that the analysis of lipids (i.e. fats, waxes and resins) preserved in surface residues or the fabric of single potsherds, representative of single vessels, was a powerful method for ascertaining pottery use, with a high degree of specificity. Subsequent developments saw a significant…
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…
Pastoralist Foodways Recorded in Organic Residues from Pottery Vessels of Modern Communities in Samburu, Kenya
Organic residue analyses of archaeological ceramics can provide important insights into ancient foodways. To date, however, there has been little critical reflection on how lipid residues might (or might not) reflect dietary practices or subsistence strategies more generally. A combination of ethnoarchaeological research and chemical and isotopic analyses of lipid residues from pottery made and used by modern Samburu pastoralists in northern Keny…
Finding Oxford's medieval Jewry using organic residue analysis, faunal records and historical documents
Food is often one of the most distinctive expressions of social, religious, cultural or ethnic groups. However, the archaeological identification of specific religious dietary practices, including the Jewish tradition of keepingkosher, associated with ritual food practices and taboos, is very rare. This is arguably one of the oldest known diets across the world and, for an observant Jew, maintaining dietary laws (known as Kashruth) is a fundament…
New Research at Paisley Caves
Paisley Caves in Oregon has become well known due to early dates, and human presence in the form of coprolites, found to contain ancient human DNA. Questions remain over whether the coprolites themselves are human, or whether the DNA is mobile in the sediments. This brief introduces new research applying an integrated analytical approach combining sediment micromorphology and lipid biomarker analysis, which aims to resolve these problems
Strontium isotope evidence for human mobility in the Neolithic of northern Greece
Strontium isotope ratios are widely used in archaeology to differentiate between local and non-local populations. Herein, strontium isotope ratios of 36 human tooth enamels from seven archaeological sites spanning the Early to Late Neolithic of northern Greece (7th–5th millennia B.C.E.) were analysed with the aim of providing new information relating to the movement of humans across the region. Local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr signals were establishe…
Contrasting Patterns of Resource Exploitation on the Outer Hebrides and Northern Isles of Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Norse Period Revealed through Organic Residues in Pottery
This paper presents the findings from an investigation of organic residues extracted from pottery sherds from Late Iron Age and Norse phases from Bornais, South Uist, and the Late Norse period from Jarlshof on Shetland. These data confirm intensive and/or specialized processing of marine products in pottery on Shetland, either for consumption or other uses, such as rendering of oil from fish livers. In contrast, at Bornais, little increase in the…
Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers
Contrasting Patterns of Resource Exploitation on the Outer Hebrides and Northern Isles of Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Norse Period Revealed through Organic Residues in Pottery
This paper presents the findings from an investigation of organic residues extracted from pottery sherds from Late Iron Age and Norse phases from Bornais, South Uist, and the Late Norse period from Jarlshof on Shetland. These data confirm intensive and/or specialized processing of marine products in pottery on Shetland, either for consumption or other uses, such as rendering of oil from fish livers. In contrast, at Bornais, little increase in the…
Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean
Significance This unique research combines the analyses of lipid residues in pottery vessels with slaughter profiles for domesticated ruminants to provide compelling evidence for diverse subsistence strategies in the northern Mediterranean basin during the Neolithic. Our findings show that the exploitation and processing of milk varied across the region, although most communities began to exploit milk as soon as domesticates were introduced betwe…
From the inside out
The investigation of organic residues associated with archaeological pottery using modern analytical chemical methods began in the 1970s. It was recognised early on that the analysis of lipids (i.e. fats, waxes and resins) preserved in surface residues or the fabric of single potsherds, representative of single vessels, was a powerful method for ascertaining pottery use, with a high degree of specificity. Subsequent developments saw a significant…
Differing modes of animal exploitation in North-Pontic Eneolithic and Bronze Age Societies
This paper presents new results of an interdisciplinary investigation of the diet and subsistence strategies of populations living in the North-Pontic region during the Eneolithic and the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3800 BC to the 2500 BC). New organic residue analyses of >200 sherds from five Eneolithic sites and two Early Bronze Age settlements are presented. The molecular and stable isotope results are discussed in relation to zooarchaeological evid…
Strong bias towards carcass product processing at Neolithic settlements in northern Greece revealed through absorbed lipid residues of archaeological pottery
Strontium isotope evidence for human mobility in the Neolithic of northern Greece
Strontium isotope ratios are widely used in archaeology to differentiate between local and non-local populations. Herein, strontium isotope ratios of 36 human tooth enamels from seven archaeological sites spanning the Early to Late Neolithic of northern Greece (7th–5th millennia B.C.E.) were analysed with the aim of providing new information relating to the movement of humans across the region. Local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr signals were establishe…
Pastoralist Foodways Recorded in Organic Residues from Pottery Vessels of Modern Communities in Samburu, Kenya
Organic residue analyses of archaeological ceramics can provide important insights into ancient foodways. To date, however, there has been little critical reflection on how lipid residues might (or might not) reflect dietary practices or subsistence strategies more generally. A combination of ethnoarchaeological research and chemical and isotopic analyses of lipid residues from pottery made and used by modern Samburu pastoralists in northern Keny…
New Research at Paisley Caves
Paisley Caves in Oregon has become well known due to early dates, and human presence in the form of coprolites, found to contain ancient human DNA. Questions remain over whether the coprolites themselves are human, or whether the DNA is mobile in the sediments. This brief introduces new research applying an integrated analytical approach combining sediment micromorphology and lipid biomarker analysis, which aims to resolve these problems
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…
A call for caution in the analysis of lipids and other small biomolecules from archaeological contexts
Finding Oxford's medieval Jewry using organic residue analysis, faunal records and historical documents
Food is often one of the most distinctive expressions of social, religious, cultural or ethnic groups. However, the archaeological identification of specific religious dietary practices, including the Jewish tradition of keepingkosher, associated with ritual food practices and taboos, is very rare. This is arguably one of the oldest known diets across the world and, for an observant Jew, maintaining dietary laws (known as Kashruth) is a fundament…
Archaeology (12 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (10 works) · Geography (10 works) · Pottery (8 works) · Biology (6 works) · Isotope Analysis in Ecology (6 works) · Agriculture (5 works) · Chemistry (4 works) · Ecology (4 works) · Archaeological science (3 works)