Looking for Ancient Fish Products Through Invisible Biomolecular Residues in the Roman Production Vats from the Atlantic Coast

As organic materials, fish and its derivative products are perishable and break down rapidly and ultimately disappear. Unless they include bones or scales, the only means of identifying them in the archaeological record is through the identification of the chemical constituents that are left behind after decomposition. Fish flesh mainly consists of proteins and lipids. Since these molecules are unstable they degrade irreversibly after death or discard, losing a significant part of the original chemical elements, consequently hampering or complicating their identification. In this paper, two main types of fish products are considered: raw, salted or cooked fish, and fermented fish-based products. In the first case, the degradation of the native markers results from chemical post-depositional degradation, and eventually thermal degradation during cooking. In the second case, the biochemical processes involve bacteria that cause the rapid decomposition of fish as part of the process of forming fish sauces, such as Roman garum. To detect and identify fish products we combined experimental archaeology and organic analyses. The identification of the degradation products of cholesterol appeared to provide a strong indicator for detecting the presence of fish sauces. Analysis of samples taken from fish-salting vats located along the Atlantic coast (Marsa, Baelo Claudia, Troia, Kerlaz, and Etel) with samples taken from actual experimental garum sauces made from mackerel (Scomber scombrus), sardines (Sardina pilchardus), and/or oysters (Ostreidae), revealed the presence of common markers of fermented fish-based products. The application of the analytical methodology described here to structures involved in ancient fish sauce manufacture and storage has enabled investigation of the production of the sauces by searching directly for the fish markers on the inner sides of the containers. For the first time the addition of molluscs and fruits in the fish product has been identified as part of the process of manufacturing garum.     

The early section of the Worcester chronicle

The Latin chronicle traditionally attributed to Florence of Worcester is examined, and it is suggested that its early portion, down to the end of the reign of Æthelred the Unready, was compiled at Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire during the last two decades of his reign. The repercussions of this on the transmission of the vernacular texts of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle are explored.     

Reviews

M. Philips Price: “A HISTORY OF TURKEY: FROM EMPIRE TO REPUBLIC” (Allen and Unwin. 1956. 20/‐.)

“THE ECONOMICS OF EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT.” By Paul H. Casselman. (Public Affairs Press, Washington, D.C., 1955, pp. vi plus 183. Price $3.25.)

“THE HISTORY OF A SOVIET COLLECTIVE FARM.” Fedor Belov. Routledge. London. International Library of Sociology and Social Reconstruction. 1956. xiii plus 234, including appendices and index. 21/‐.

“RED, BLACK, BLOND AND OLIVE.” by Edmund Wilson. (W. H. Allen, London. 25/‐.)

“THE PATTERN OF WORLD CONFLICT.” by G. L. Arnold. London. (The Dial Press, New York. 1955, pp. 250.)

“FLIGHT AND RESETTLEMENT.” by H. B. Murphy and Others. (Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), 1955, pp.231.     

The royal society: National committee for geography

The Geomorphology of the British Isles series: Ireland. By G. L. H. Davies and N. Stephens. 21 × 14, 250 pp. Methuen, 1978. £7.95.

Causes of Climate by J. G. Lockwood. 24 × 16, 10 + 260 pp. 22 photos, 102 diagrams, 34 tables, index (to text only), glossary. Edward Arnold, 1979. £5.95.

Humanistic Geography: Prospects and Problems. Edited by David Ley and Marwyn Samuels, i‐viii. 23 × 16, 337 pp. Croom Helm, London, 1978. £11.95.

South America. By Arthur Morris. 25 × 19, 271 pp., 59 maps and diagrams, 43 plates, appendices, bibliography, index. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1979. Paper, £5.45.

The Fur Trade of the American West, 1807–1840. By D. J. Wishart. 22.5 x 14.5, 237 pp. Illustrations, references, bibliography, index. Croom Helm, London, 1979. £12.95.

Outlook Geography: Worldscapes. A. Ayres et al. 25 × 19, 136 pp. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1978. £2.45.

The Changing Geography of Britain. By W. E. Marsden. 25 × 19, 196 pp. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1978. £2.50.