19 June 2025, 12 noon – 12:30 CEST
Nuancing ancient cuisines through computed microtomography (μCT) of amorphous carbonized objects
by Clarissa Cagnato, Postdoctoral Fellow at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
EXCITE user
My research aims at developing ways to study millimetric amorphous carbonized objects (ACOs) – the potential relics of complex foods – with a special focus on those recovered from pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican contexts (AD 250-900). To achieve this, a reference collection through a set of replicative experiments was first developed using ingredients known to have been available to ancient Maya and Teotihuacan populations. These foods were subsequently exposed to varying thermal conditions for different periods of time and then analyzed using a set of non-destructive imaging techniques: optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and lab-based computed microtomography (μCT) and synchrotron radiation X-ray computed microtomography (SR-μCT). The results indicate that combining these techniques can provide a set of diagnostic elements and features that can help refine the identification of ancient complex foods.
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