Technique Development for Caffeinated Beverage Identification

考古学的伟大之处在于，它能够教授我们共同的过去，并提供一个看待当今人类的视角。这个集体的过去和现在的一个关键部分是信仰和相关的信仰实践。因为信仰的物质遗迹往往是短暂的，可以解释的，人类行为的这一领域往往没有被那些探索深刻过去的人所研究。该项目旨在改进用于识别使用的方法，并最终探索美洲含咖啡因饮料的古老仪式实践。在欧洲人来到新大陆之前，含咖啡因的饮料要么是用北美的一种冬青（冬青或大冬冬青）制成的，要么是用中美洲的巧克力制成的。历史和考古信息表明，由这些植物制成的饮料在仪式和特殊场合被饮用，因此了解它们是如何以及何时被使用的，将使探索围绕这些用途的仪式实践成为可能。这项工作将在帮助培训下一代考古学家和支持伯利兹和美国本土企业的同时进行。在古代容器中寻找食物和其他混合物的遗骸，最常见的方法是试图检测被容器基质吸收的诊断性化合物的存在。大多数吸收残留物研究采用某种形式的质谱法来检测和测量从古代容器中收集的残留物样品中存在的各种化合物的浓度。在美洲，对含咖啡因饮料的吸收残留物进行研究的问题在于，人们认为能够区分巧克力和冬青的化合物和浓度，实际上并不能区分这两种植物产生的残留物。该项目将寻找能够明确区分这两种植物来源和由它们制成的饮料的化合物。这将通过分析从植物来源提取的样本、用传统方法制作的饮料以及加入这些饮料的低烧陶瓷容器的碎片来完成。

The great power archaeology has is the ability to teach about our collective past and provide a perspective on people today. A key part of that collective past, as well as the present, is beliefs and associated belief practices. Because the material remains of beliefs are often transitory and open to interpretation, this realm of human behavior is often under-studied by those who explore the deep past. This project intends to refine the methods used to identify the use of, and ultimately explore the ancient ritual practices surrounding, caffeinated beverages in the Americas. Before the coming of Europeans to the New World, caffeinated beverages were made either using a species of holly (yaupon or dahoon holly) in North America, or chocolate in Central America. Historical and archaeological information show that beverages made from these plants were consumed in ritual and specialized contexts, so understanding how and when they were used will make it possible to explore the ritual practices surrounding those uses. This will be done while helping to train the next generation of archaeologists and supporting indigenous businesses in Belize and the US.The search for the remains of foods and other concoctions in ancient containers is most often done by attempting to detect the presence of diagnostic compounds that had been absorbed into the matrix of the container. Most absorbed residue studies employ some version of mass spectrometry to detect and measure the concentration of various compounds present in residue samples collected from ancient containers. The problem with absorbed residue studies of caffeinated beverages in the Americas is that the compounds and concentrations thought to distinguish chocolate from yaupon holly do not, in fact, differentiate residues produced by the two plants. This project will search for chemical compounds that definitively distinguish the two plants sources and the beverages made from them. This will be done by analyzing samples derived from the plant sources, the beverages made using traditional methods, and fragments of low-fired ceramic vessels spiked with those beverages.