Event: Wednesday Talk: Ancient wine and bitumen: A cocktail of mass spectrometry applications to archaeological materials at the PMSL

Abstract: Mass spectrometry applications for molecular characterization of organic compounds in archaeology constitute a fundamental set of tools to address research questions related to the use, origin, and distribution of raw materials and artifacts. This talk will illustrate research at the UCLA Pasarow Mass Spectrometry Laboratory on developing and applying analytical methods for identifying organic molecules associated with wine and bitumen preserved on archaeological pottery. A novel technique for identifying ancient wine using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) is being developed and optimized. This targeted analysis uses, for the first time, new biomarkers formed during the fermentation process, and it is being applied to archaeological ceramics from different regions and periods. The study of archaeological bitumen from Neolithic Albania uses an established method that focuses on the identification of hydrocarbons using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The outcome of such analysis indicates the exploitation of the Selenicë bitumen sources in southeast Albania during the Neolithic period and the circulation of the raw material in the region.

Bio: Gazmend was awarded his PhD in Archaeology from UCLA in 2020. He graduated at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in Archaeology and Art History, from where he also received his Master’s in the prehistory of Aegean and the Balkans. He began working at the Pasarow Laboratory as a Post-Doc in 2021. His research primarily focuses on prehistoric communities, ceramic analysis, and mass spectrometry applications towards archaeological material.