We performed food residue analysis of cook-stones from experimental andprehistoric earth ovens using a handheld Raman spectrometry. Progress in modernoptical technology provides a facile means of rapid non-destructiveidentification of residue artifacts from archaeological sites. For this studyspectral signatures were obtained on sotol (Dasylirion spp.) experimentallybaked in an earth oven as well as sotol residue on an experimentally usedprocessing tool. Inulin was the major residue component. The portable handheldRaman spectrometer also detected traces of inulin on boiling stones used toboil commercially obtained inulin. The Raman spectra of inulin and sotol may beuseful as signatures of wild plant residues in archaeology. Spectroscopicanalysis of millennia-old cook-stones from prehistoric archaeological sites inFort Hood, TX revealed the presence of residues whose further identificationrequires improvement of current optical methods.
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