Table 2.
List of 25 Nok potsherds showing ‘typical’ beeswax lipid profiles.
| Sample number | Pottery group (Phase) | Site | Sherd type | Acid extraction | Solvent extraction & HT-GC/MS | Lipid concentration (µg g-1) | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOK003 | Tsaunim Gurara (Later Middle Nok) | Tudun Dosa | Rim | ✓ | ✓ | 31.8 | FA, OH, ALK, HWE, beeswax |
| NOK012 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Doguwa | Rim | ✓ | – | 26.6 | FA, OH, ALK, possible beeswax but concentration too low for solvent extraction |
| NOK013 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Doguwa | Rim | ✓ | ✓ | 47.5 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK015 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Doguwa | Rim | ✓ | ✓ | 126.0 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK042 | Tsaunim Gurara (Later Middle Nok) | Akura | Rim | ✓ | – | 93.5 | FA, OH, ALK, possible beeswax but contained high abundances of plasticisers so was not re-extracted |
| NOK074 | Ifana (Early Middle Nok) | Ifana | Rim | ✓ | – | 14.0 | FA, OH, ALK, possible beeswax but concentration too low for solvent extraction |
| NOK081 | Ifana/Pangwari (Early Middle Nok) | Ifana | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 54.3 | FA, OH, ALK, WE, HWE, beeswax |
| NOK084 | Ifana/Pangwari (Early Middle Nok) | Ifana | Neck | ✓ | – | 14.7 | FA, OH, ALK, possible beeswax but concentration too low for solvent extraction |
| NOK086 | Ifana/Pangwari (Early Middle Nok) | Ifana | Rim | ✓ | – | 23.2 | FA, OH, ALK, possible beeswax but concentration too low for solvent extraction |
| NOK093 | Ifana (Early Middle Nok) | Ifana | Rim | ✓ | ✓ | 170.4 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK106 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Ankoro | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 213.6 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK111 | Ifana (Early Middle Nok) | Daji Gwana | Neck | ✓ | ✓ | 76.9 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK119 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Doguwa | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 1815.6 | FA, OH, ALK, WE, HWE, beeswax |
| NOK120 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Doguwa | Neck | ✓ | ✓ | 156.3 | FA, OH, ALK, WE, beeswax |
| NOK127 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Doguwa | Neck | ✓ | ✓ | 91.5 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK130 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Doguwa | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 46.1 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK158 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Puntun Dutse | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 202.1 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK167 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Puntun Dutse | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 863.7 | FA, OH, ALK, WE, HWE, beeswax |
| NOK195 | Puntun Dutse (Early Nok) | Puntun Dutse | Neck | ✓ | ✓ | 59.5 | FA, OH, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax (or plant) |
| NOK246 | Ifana/Pangwari (Early Middle Nok) | Ifana | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 139.4 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK275 | Ungwar Kura (Later Middle Nok) | Ungwar Kura | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 78.6 | FA, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax (or plant) |
| NOK276 | Ungwar Kura (Later Middle Nok) | Ungwar Kura | Body | ✓ | – | 32.4 | FA, OH, ALK, possible beeswax but concentration too low for solvent extraction |
| NOK300 | Ungwar Kura (Later Middle Nok) | Ungwar Kura | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 124.9 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
| NOK376 | Ifana (Early Middle Nok) | Janruwa A | Body | ✓ | ✓ | 577.8 | FA, OH, ALK, WE present in very low abundance, probable beeswax |
| NOK397 | Ifana/Pangwari (Early Middle Nok) | Janruwa A | Rim | ✓ | ✓ | 77.0 | FA, OH, ALK, but WE or HWE not present, possible beeswax |
Sample number, Nok phase, site, sherd type, extraction methods and HT-GC/MS, lipid concentration (µg g−1) and results showing presence (or absence) of ‘typical’ compounds found in beeswax. Potsherds containing lipids concentrations ≥100 µg g−1 are shown in bold.
FA n-alkanoic acids, OH n-alkanols, ALK n-alkanes, WE fatty acyl monoesters, HWE hydroxyl fatty acid monoesters.