RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 n-Alkyl nitriles and compound-specific carbon isotope analysis of lipid combustion residues from Neanderthal and experimental hearths: Identifying sources of organic compounds and combustion temperatures A1 Jambrina EnrĂ­quez, Margarita A1 Herrera-Herrera, Antonio V. A1 Caterina RodrĂ­guez de Vera, Caterina A1 Leierer, Lucia A1 Connolly, Rory A1 Mallol, Carolina K1 Plant lipids K1 Combustion structures K1 Biomarkers K1 Fatty acids K1 Archaeology K1 Pleistocene K1 Europe K1 Stable isotopes K1 Organic geochemistry AB Molecular and isotopic approaches offer the chance to identify combustion residues and substrate components of archaeological combustion features to infer past fire-related activities. Analysis of fatty acid methyl esters by gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry have been successfully used to distinguish among different animal fat groups. However, plant oils from different tissues have not been widely investigated even though organic residues from leaf, root, and wood tissues are preserved in sediments from archaeological combustion structures. Our analyses of plant residues from controlled laboratory heating sequences and experimental hearths involving wood and animal residues, provide references to discern anatomical parts of fresh and charred plants and to differentiate contributions of terrestrial plants and animal sources in open air hearths. This information is compared with charred organic residues from combustion structures from three Middle Palaeolithic sites: El Salt (Spain), Abric del Pastor (Spain) and Crvena Stijena (Montenegro). The occurrence of n-alkyl nitriles in our samples corroborates their potential as combustion temperature biomarkers and the d13C16:0 and d13C18:0 values allow us differentiate between charred and fresh plant anatomical parts and between fresh plant oils and animal fats SN 0277-3791 YR 2019 FD 2019 LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/36258 UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/36258 LA en DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna RD 21-nov-2024