Overcooked: Establishing a System of Diagnostic Metrics Specific to the Classification of Amorphous Charred Objects as Applied to the Prehistoric Site Sipplingen-Osthafen, Southwestern Germany

Abstract Archaeological food remains increasingly come into the focus of the archaeological sciences, resulting in the urgent need for a standardized assessment and cataloguing algorithm that will smooth the progress of information gathering and dissemination among academics, across disciplines. This paper presents such an algorithm, developed with a focus on the macroscopic and microscopic features of the charred food remains that can be classified as amorphous charred objects (ACOs). For this we use photogrammetry, optical microscopy, SEM, and MicroCT. To test this algorithm, we used the case study of the Neolithic site of Sipplingen-Osthafen with 167 ACOs ranging in the time span of 3910–2981 BCE . By implementing base metrics and attempting to recognize orientation, stratification, textures, composition, plant taxonomy as well as observations on tissue and at the cellular level the algorithm allows characterization and the studying in detail of ACOs, based on cereal products such as the ACOs from Sipplingen-Osthafen, Southwestern Germany. It also elaborated the criteria for identifying intentional versus accidental charring, and the impact of different preparation and processing techniques on the resulting cereal-based ACO. Thus, the observations’ interpretation builds the basis to help future assessments of ACOs, originated from food and drink processing or not.