https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04213-9
Regular Article
Microdestructive analysis with Py-GC/MS for the identification of birch tar: a case study from the Huayang site in late Neolithic China
1
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044, Beijing, China
2
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
3
Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, 150008, Harbin, China
4
School of History, Anhui University, 230039, Hefei, China
5
Shimadzu (China) Co. Ltd Beijing Branch, 100020, Beijing, China
b
liyouqian@tom.com
h
yiminyang@ucas.ac.cn
Received:
20
February
2023
Accepted:
20
June
2023
Published online:
3
July
2023
The use of birch tar has a long history, and its remains are found worldwide, especially in Europe, but few remains are found in Asia. Common characterization methods include gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), direct exposure electron ionization mass spectrometry (DE-MS) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Py-GC/MS requires no solvent extraction, less sample than GC/MS, and no statistical analysis compared to DE-MS. However, Py-GC/MS has been rarely applied to identify birch tar because some critical characteristic molecules of birch tar were not identified. In this study, we first reported some biomarkers of birch tar that could be identified by Py-GC/MS in terms of analyzing modern birch tar. Then, the analysis criteria were used to analyze archaeological samples adhered to stone artifacts from a late Neolithic site (about 4000 BP) in northeast China. The results provide the earliest evidence of the exploitation of birch tar in northeast Asia up to date.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04213-9.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
