Unravelling Iron Age cuisine : integrating FTIR and ELISA evidence from Pungrt hillfort (Slovenia)

Kosel, Janez (author), Kavkler, Katja (author), Vojaković, Petra (author), Črešnar, Matija (author), Ropret, Polonca (author)

Food residues on prehistoric ceramics offer direct evidence of ancient culinary practices but are often charred and degraded, limiting functional interpretation based solely on vessel form. We combined FTIR screening with paired indirect ELISA—using both polyclonal antibody G9144 and the biotinylated DNA aptamer Gli4—to detect and compare the cereal gluten marker gliadin in 12 Early Iron Age, one Late Iron Age and one Roman ceramic sherd from the Pungrt hillfort (Slovenia). Additional antibody-based ELISAs targeted proteins from meat (myosin, collagen), dairy (casein) and eggs (ovalbumin) to assess their distribution across vessel types and periods. The aptamer generally produced stronger signal above background (greater ΔOD₄₀₅) than the antibody; five samples were antibody-positive for gluten and four were aptamer-positive. FTIR confirmed proteinaceous residues in all samples, though mostly only after acetone or chloroform extraction. Collagen and myosin were the most widespread markers (11/14 and 8/14 sherds), indicating frequent cooking of whole-animal tissues or bone-rich broths. Ovalbumin occurred on seven sherds, while casein was rare and weakly expressed (four sherds). Gluten was also infrequent (four sherds) but produced stronger signals. Co-occurrence of plant and animal markers—especially on the Early Iron Age tripod 2561 containing meat, egg, dairy and gluten—suggests composite dishes such as stews and polyvalent vessel use. This study demonstrates that integrating FTIR with antibody- and aptamer-based ELISAs enables taxonomically informative reconstructions of ancient diets, though broader interpretations remain limited by the small, residue-selected sample set.

• Language: English
• Keywords: cultural heritage, Early Iron Age, Late Iron Age, Roman period, ceramics, food residues, culinary practises, FTIR, antibody, aptmeter, ancient proteins
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts; FKKT - Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Author Accepted Manuscript
• Article acceptance date: 20.03.2026
• Publication date: 02.04.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 218-229
• Numbering: Vol. 79
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185701
• UDC: 543:903(497.4Pungrt)"638/652"
• ISSN on article: 1296-2074
• DOI: 10.1016/j.culher.2026.03.012
• COBISS.SI-ID: 279536131
• Publication date in RUL: 18.08.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of cultural heritage
• Shortened title: J. cult. herit.
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1296-2074
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1228053

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: kulturna dediščina, dediščinska znanost, železna doba, rimska doba, keramika, ostanki hrane, kulinarika, starodavne beljakovine