What do phytoliths from pottery cooking vessels represent? Insights from Neolithic Stavroupoli (northern Greece)

The analysis of charred food crust from cooking vessels offers an opportunity to recover and study residues originating from culinary practices, such as phytoliths from cereal-based meals or other plant ingredients, serving as direct evidence of past food preparation and consumption activities. However, the presence of charred food crusts is sporadic in archaeological records, making it challenging to rely solely on them to reconstruct past culinary practices through phytolith analysis. Valuable dietary evidence has also been obtained through the analysis of phytoliths in the sediment adhering to the porous surfaces of ceramic cooking vessels and utensils. However, without the contextual certainty provided by the charred food crust, determining whether the phytoliths recovered from attached sediments represent culinary practices remains a complex task. This paper explores the utility of phytoliths extracted from the sediment attached to the inner walls of cooking vessels for understanding past culinary practices. For this task, phytolith assemblages recovered from charred food crust and the sediment attached to the inner walls of cooking vessels from Neolithic Stavroupoli (ca. 5400–5000 cal. BC) were contrasted to evaluate the similarity between the two assemblages. While this study primarily demonstrates the statistical variation in phytolith assemblages from two distinct sources, the findings offer valuable insights into the feasibility and interpretative value of using phytolith analysis on sediments adhering to cooking vessels to gain insights into past culinary practices, especially in cases where direct food residues, such as charred food crust, are absent.