Data for: "More than bones alone": organic residue analysis of Early Iron Age ceramics from KwaZulu-Natal

This dataset comprises the analytical results of organic residues preserved in Early Iron Age and early Later Iron Age ceramics from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A total of 218 potsherds from six sites — Enkwazini, Mzonjani, Inanda Quarry, Msuluzi Confluence, KwaGandaganda and Mpambanyoni — were sampled from the collections of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, spanning approximately eight centuries (c. 340–1285 cal CE) over the Mzonjani, Msuluzi, Ndondondwane, Ntshekane and Blackburn ceramic facies. Lipids were extracted using an acidified methanol protocol (Correa-Ascencio and Evershed, 2014) and analysed by gas chromatography–flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A subset of 29 samples was analysed by gas chromatography–combustion–isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) at three laboratories (Bristol, York and Hohenheim). Data SOM_KZN_EIA_ceramics_lipids_yields_isotopes.xlsx contains three sheets: GCMS_yields — one row per sherd (n = 218): sample identifier, site and ceramic facies, sample mass, lipid and phthalate contamination yields (µg/g), whether the sample met the 5 µg/g yield threshold, GC-MS instrument and method parameters, and the fatty acids detected in each sample. KZN_isotopes — compound-specific carbon isotope results (n = 29): δ¹³C values for palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) acids, the Δ¹³C offset (δ¹³C₁₈:₀ − δ¹³C₁₆:₀), temporal group and analysing laboratory. All values are reported relative to V-PDB and are corrected for the methyl carbon introduced during acidified methanol extraction. Becher_Lydenburg — published comparative isotope data from the Lydenburg Heads site, Mpumalanga (Becher et al., 2024), reproduced here for the comparison plotted in Figure 6. Code Four scripts reproduce the figures in the paper. Each reads directly from the spreadsheet. figure2_lipid_preservation.R — lipid preservation by context (R; ggplot2, dplyr, readxl, gridExtra) figure3_yield_boxplots.R — distribution of yields and contamination (R; as above) figure4_fatty_acid_heatmap.py — fatty acid distribution across contexts (Python 3; pandas, matplotlib, seaborn, openpyxl) figure6_isotope_biplot.R — δ¹³C₁₆:₀ against Δ¹³C, with Lydenburg Heads data comparison (R; ggplot2, dplyr, readxl) These data support: Loftus, E., Whitelaw, G., Armbruster, W., Whelton, H.L., Hammann, S. "More than bones alone": organic residue analysis of Early Iron Age ceramics from KwaZulu-Natal and the role of cattle in first-millennium CE southern Africa.