Fatty acid residues reveal impact of climate change on ancient farming community

By Jamie Durrani2018-08-21T14:38:00

A photograph of a collection of Neolithic pottery excavated from Çatalhöyük

Source: © Çatalhöyük Research Project (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Lipid biomarkers help track an extended period of drought that brought societal changes to a Neolithic settlement

Food residues found in ancient pottery vessels provide a record of the climate change event that triggered an early farming community’s downfall. It’s the first time these types of biomarkers have been used to create a paleoclimate record at an archaeological site.