Written by Luis Perez

In 2050, humanity will grapple with the unprecedented challenge of feeding nearly 10 billion people against a backdrop of dwindling resources and climate unrest. While there are no silver bullets in sight, ANU School of Archaeology and Anthropology archaeologist, Dr Mathieu Leclerc, is searching for sustainable solutions where few are—the cooking pots of Pacific Islanders. 

For centuries, the Pacific Island nations have endured tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and changing climate patterns that have disrupted the lives of its inhabitants, destabilising entire ecosystems and undermining the intricate food chains that sustain life. 

Today, as temperatures keep rising and weather becomes unpredictable, understanding how past generations adapted their diets to adversity is of paramount importance. 

While building a time machine is not on the cards, Dr Mathieu Leclerc, a biomolecular archaeologist, has a way of travelling back in time.

Through his research, he analyses organic residues preserved in pottery for thousands of years— a technique that allows him to understand what people ate long ago. 

After recently receiving funding from the Australian Research Council, Leclerc will embark on a groundbreaking project in Vanuatu, where he is poised to uncover the evolutionary history of Pacific culinary practices. 

The study of age-old food remnants could illuminate pathways to a more prosperous food future as humans confront an escalating climate crisis. 

The secret life of fat molecules

If you’ve ever washed a sink full of greasy dishes, you’ve probably noticed the presence of stubborn, oily bubbles that cling to the surface and refuse to rinse away. 

These yellowy slicks are made of lipids—a resilient group of organic compounds such as oils and fats that are front and centre to Leclerc’s research.

“Lipids are insoluble in water, which is the reason they are very stable and can be preserved for a long time,” he says. 

“When food is cooked or placed into a pot, fat molecules are absorbed and preserved inside the pottery fabric. 

“Ancient food residues preserved this way can reveal fundamental facts about humanity, such as what people were eating, the types of resources that were cultivated or foraged, and the range of animal species that were available.”

Fats and oils are insoluble in water, reason why they float in the surface and are hard to remove. Image: Adobe Stock

Leclerc specialises in the examination of lipids in archaeological pots, a task that requires meticulous microscopic analysis. 

“Compounds must be first extracted from the pottery. But one of the big challenges is that it is impossible to know if lipids are preserved in pottery until we analyse it,” he says. 

“After extracting the lipids, certain combinations of compounds known as biomarkers allow us to identify certain types of resources and foods. We can also identify these foods by comparing the results with compounds found in modern food and animals. 

“So far in our pilot study we had a high success rate in terms of lipid yield, but it remains uncertain if every sample will behave as nicely.”

History through the cooking pot

The island where Leclerc will conduct his field research, Espiritu Santo, is home to one of the longest documented sequences of pottery use in Oceania. 

This will allow him to investigate the long-term evolution of food practices, spanning 3,000 years. 

“In much of Vanuatu, pottery-making was abandoned a few centuries after people first settled. Today, only a few places still carry on this craft,” he says. 

“Espiritu Santo is one of these rare spots where traditional pottery is still made, although only a handful of expert practitioners now survive in communities of the West Coast of the island.” 

Leclerc is not only poised to uncover the very specific menu Pacific Islanders gorged on, but also the rich cultural and ceremonial layers surrounding their food habits.

“The analysis of organic residues preserved in pottery will provide direct evidence of the circumstances in which specific food items were eaten and of the social value given to foodstuffs,” he says. 

“For example, because pots used for burial ceremonies are different from those used for day-to-day cooking, the residues preserved in both will allow us to identify respectively the food used at funerals, and the food eaten more commonly.

“This might provide information on the social status various food items had, or at least a better understanding of how past people perceived those food items.

“The findings will also provide critical information on understanding the role of pottery in the settlement of the Pacific, an aspect that remains to be investigated using direct evidence.” 

This story was originally published in the ANU research website, here