Why was pottery developed and adopted? Food residues on ceramic materialfrom three sites in the Upper Great Lakes region of North America suggestthat there is no single answer, and contradict previous indications thatpottery was created for the ritual processing of fish oil. Samples from twosites showed evidence of both plant and animal remains, but no fish oilswere detected, even for the site believed to be a fishing camp. Nut oilsdominated for the third site, being present on both fire-cracked rocks andpottery, and were suggestive of an acorn-rendering process. All of thevessels were ideally suited to slow simmering, but it seems that theirapplications were diverse.
