Despite ethnographic, visual artistic, and early historical evidence for the consumption of pulque in Mesoamerica, no direct chemical evidence for the fermented agave beverage pulque has been reported within these archeological contexts. An organic residue study was conducted on ancient ceramic samples from the site of Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico.  These samples associated with the Toltec site (c. 900 CE) were compared to lipid extracts from modern samples of pulque in order to establish the possibility of determining a chemical biomarker for its pre-historic consumption. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was used to identify surviving lipid contents embedded within thirteen different sherds, as well as to analyze the components of five different modern pulque samples. A terpenoid compound was found in each of the modern pulque samples, as well as many of the ancient ceramic sherds analyzed. The correlation of this compound, combined with characteristic fatty acids, provide strong evidence for the storage of this fermented beverage within the archaeological ceramics tested. The identification of these compounds as biomarkers for pulque consumption offers a valuable tool for identifying the use and trade of this important resource throughout prehistoric Mesoamerica.

Chemical evidence for the archaeological use of pulque, a pre-Columbian fermented beverage made from agave

245th National Meeting (2013)

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