An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes
Residues from ancient artifacts can help identify which plant species were used for their psychoactive properties, providing important information regarding the deep-time co-evolutionary relationship between plants and humans. However, relying on the presence or absence of one or several biomarkers...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00133/full |
| _version_ | 1818308522068148224 |
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| author | Korey J. Brownstein Shannon Tushingham William J. Damitio Tung Nguyen David R. Gang |
| author_facet | Korey J. Brownstein Shannon Tushingham William J. Damitio Tung Nguyen David R. Gang |
| author_sort | Korey J. Brownstein |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Residues from ancient artifacts can help identify which plant species were used for their psychoactive properties, providing important information regarding the deep-time co-evolutionary relationship between plants and humans. However, relying on the presence or absence of one or several biomarkers has limited the ability to confidently connect residues to particular plants. We describe a comprehensive metabolomics-based approach that can distinguish closely related species and provide greater confidence in species use determinations. An ~1430-year-old pipe from central Washington State not only contained nicotine, but also had strong evidence for the smoking of Nicotiana quadrivalvis and Rhus glabra, as opposed to several other species in this pre-contact pipe. Analysis of a post-contact pipe suggested use of different plants, including the introduced trade tobacco, Nicotiana rustica. Ancient residue metabolomics provides a new frontier in archaeo-chemistry, with greater precision to investigate the evolution of drug use and similar plant-human co-evolutionary dynamics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:15:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8730a481a57d45629996ce5e5a8eb3e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-889X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:15:36Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-8730a481a57d45629996ce5e5a8eb3e12022-12-21T23:55:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences2296-889X2020-06-01710.3389/fmolb.2020.00133536696An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient PipesKorey J. Brownstein0Shannon Tushingham1William J. Damitio2Tung Nguyen3David R. Gang4Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United StatesDepartment of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United StatesDepartment of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United StatesDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United StatesInstitute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United StatesResidues from ancient artifacts can help identify which plant species were used for their psychoactive properties, providing important information regarding the deep-time co-evolutionary relationship between plants and humans. However, relying on the presence or absence of one or several biomarkers has limited the ability to confidently connect residues to particular plants. We describe a comprehensive metabolomics-based approach that can distinguish closely related species and provide greater confidence in species use determinations. An ~1430-year-old pipe from central Washington State not only contained nicotine, but also had strong evidence for the smoking of Nicotiana quadrivalvis and Rhus glabra, as opposed to several other species in this pre-contact pipe. Analysis of a post-contact pipe suggested use of different plants, including the introduced trade tobacco, Nicotiana rustica. Ancient residue metabolomics provides a new frontier in archaeo-chemistry, with greater precision to investigate the evolution of drug use and similar plant-human co-evolutionary dynamics.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00133/fullancient residue metabolomicsarchaeologycaffeinenicotinepre-contact pipepsychoactive compound |
| spellingShingle | Korey J. Brownstein Shannon Tushingham William J. Damitio Tung Nguyen David R. Gang An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences ancient residue metabolomics archaeology caffeine nicotine pre-contact pipe psychoactive compound |
| title | An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes |
| title_full | An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes |
| title_fullStr | An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes |
| title_short | An Ancient Residue Metabolomics-Based Method to Distinguish Use of Closely Related Plant Species in Ancient Pipes |
| title_sort | ancient residue metabolomics based method to distinguish use of closely related plant species in ancient pipes |
| topic | ancient residue metabolomics archaeology caffeine nicotine pre-contact pipe psychoactive compound |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00133/full |
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