STARCH: at the origins of starch food diet. SR-FTIR and SEM applied to Palaeolithic Grinding Stones from the Pontic area (original) (raw)

STARCH: at the origins of starch food diet. SR-FTIR and SEM applied to Palaeolithic Grinding Stones from the Pontic area. G. Biranda, L. Vaccari, N. Cefarin, C. Cagnato, I. Pantyukhina, N. Skakun, C. Lubritto, G. Sorrentino, Laura Longo The advent of dietary carbohydrates as human staple food was a breakthrough. However, perishable plant-food remains (e.g. starch) are poorly represented in the archaeological record, and the role played by vegetable food processing has only recently been reconsidered. Evidences from our research on grinding stones retrieved in MIS 3 sites are challenging the mainstream model of the so- called Neolithic Revolution. Plants rich in starch, like roots and tubers, were processed into flour by means of grinding and pounding stone tools. Preliminary results are showing that use-related biogenic residues such as starch granules can be extracted and characterized with cutting-edge analytical protocols combining optical and FE-SEM microscopy (low vacuum) coupled with micro and nano-FTIR spectroscopy coupled with the high brightness of synchrotron radiation (SR). Use-related starch granules, extracted from grinding stones retrieved from Pontic Steppe Early Upper Palaeolithic sites, have been morphologically identified and SEM micrographs show the lamellar structure (amylose and amylopectin). Those features were targeted by FTIR analysis and the spectral feature of amylopectin was detected, even though possibly degraded (Figure 1). The spectra of archaeological starches were compared with those obtained from modern starches (red potato). New data from the on-going beamtime, strengthening the putative hypothesis, will be presented during the workshop. The research reveals twofold outcomes: (i) it demonstrates the suitability of high-hand large infrastructure to be applied to archaeological materials; (ii) it sheds light on the introduction of dietary carbohydrates in Homo sapiens nutritional strategies, occurring at least around 40,000 ka around the Black Sea area. Finally, it proves that STEMs and Humanities can be positively merged to solve relevant issues in humans’ dietary adaptation according to the colonized niches. Moreover, investigating the “Starch Food Niche” in an evolutionary perspective brings revelatory keys on the origins of contemporary mismatch which is at the base of diseases related to starchy food (metabolic syndrome) highlighting the relevance of investigating our past to understand our present and to plan future sustainable strategies.