Laura Fanti
email: fantilau@gmail.com

Léa Drieu

Arnaud Mazuy

Thierry Blasco

Carlo Lugliè

Martine Regert

4500-4000 cal BC) revealed through an integrated

Keywords: Neolithic, Western Mediterranean, Pottery use, Use-wear, Organic residues, Dairy products

The role of pottery in Middle Neolithic societies of western Mediterranean (Sardinia, Italy,

Introduction

In the last twenty years, research on the use of pottery by Neolithic societies has been strongly based on the chemical analysis of visible "foodcrusts" and/or absorbed residues, in order to address crucial issues: the origin and diffusion of dairying [START_REF] Dudd | Direct demonstration of Milk as an Element of Archaeological Economies[END_REF][START_REF] Evershed | Earliest date for milk use in the Near East and southeastern Europe linked to cattle herding[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium BC in northern Europe[END_REF], the relationships between the introduction of pottery and culinary innovations during the spread of the Neolithisation process, the dietary changes or continuity across the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition [START_REF] Debono Spiteri | Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean[END_REF]Craig et al., 2007a[START_REF] Craig | Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe[END_REF]Cramp et al., 2014a-b;[START_REF] Heron | Cooking fish and drinking milk? Patterns in pottery use in the southeastern Baltic, 3300-2400 cal BC[END_REF][START_REF] Isaksson | Lipid residue analyses of Early Neolithic funnel-beaker pottery from Skogsmossen, eastern Central Sweden, and the earliest evidence of dairying in Sweden[END_REF][START_REF] Oras | The adoption of pottery by north-east European hunter-gatherers: Evidence from lipid residue analysis[END_REF], the exploitation and use of specific resources and products, such as beeswax or birch bark tar [START_REF] Regert | Les adhésifs néolithiques : quels matériaux utilisés, quelles techniques de production dans quel contexte social?[END_REF][START_REF] Roffet-Salque | Widespread Exploitation of the Honeybee by Early Neolithic Farmers[END_REF]. In Europe, research about residues of commodities preserved in Neolithic pottery has been conducted mainly in central and northern regions (Copley et al., 2005ab;Craig et al., 2005aCraig et al., -b, 2007aCraig et al., -b, 2011;;Cramp et al., 2014a-b;[START_REF] Heron | Cooking fish and drinking milk? Patterns in pottery use in the southeastern Baltic, 3300-2400 cal BC[END_REF][START_REF] Matlova | Defining pottery use and animal management at the Neolithic site of Bylany (Czech Republic)[END_REF][START_REF] Mirabaud | Molecular Criteria for Discriminating Adipose Fat and Milk from Different Species by NanoESI MS and MS/MS of Their Triacylglycerols: Application to Archaeological Remains[END_REF][START_REF] Isaksson | Lipid residue analyses of Early Neolithic funnel-beaker pottery from Skogsmossen, eastern Central Sweden, and the earliest evidence of dairying in Sweden[END_REF]Regert et al., 1999;[START_REF] Salque | New insights into the Early Neolithic economy and management of animals in Southern and Central Europe revealed using lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium BC in northern Europe[END_REF], and only recently extended to some western Mediterranean regions [START_REF] Debono Spiteri | Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | New insights into the Early Neolithic economy and management of animals in Southern and Central Europe revealed using lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels[END_REF][START_REF] Šoberl | Early herding practices revealed through organic residue analysis of pottery from the early Neolithic rock shelter of Mala Triglavca[END_REF], 2014). Nonetheless, the relationship between residues and typological/morpho-dimensional features of vessels has been rarely investigated in an integrated approach so far (Copley et al., 2005a;[START_REF] Debono Spiteri | Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean[END_REF][START_REF] Heron | Cooking fish and drinking milk? Patterns in pottery use in the southeastern Baltic, 3300-2400 cal BC[END_REF][START_REF] Matlova | Defining pottery use and animal management at the Neolithic site of Bylany (Czech Republic)[END_REF][START_REF] Nieuwenhuyse | Tracing pottery use and the emergence of secondary product exploitation through lipid residue analysis at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad (Syria)[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | New insights into the Early Neolithic economy and management of animals in Southern and Central Europe revealed using lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium BC in northern Europe[END_REF][START_REF] Šoberl | Neolithic and Eneolithic activities inferred from organic residue analysis of pottery from Mala Triglavca, Moverna vas and Ajdovska jama[END_REF]. Indeed, the potential of the functional analysis, as a means to develop a broader perspective on the role of whole pottery assemblages made and used in technical systems by Neolithic societies, remains poorly exploited. Particularly, the systematic recording of all range of use-wear alteration [START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF](Skibo, , 2012)), providing direct evidence of use and pottery functioning [START_REF] Regert | Analytical strategies for discriminating archaeological fatty substances from animal origin[END_REF][START_REF] Regert | Substances naturelles exploitées sur les sites de Chalain et Clairvaux : nature et fonction des matériaux organiques amorphes[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Contribution méthodologique à l'analyse fonctionnelle des céramiques d'un habitat néolithique: l'exemple de Kovačevo (6200 -5500 av[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF], is still underestimated or neglected.

In this context, we focus our attention on the uses of pottery during Middle Neolithic B (MNB -San Ciriaco culture, 4500-4000 cal BC) in Sardinia, Italy (fig. 1,a-b). This island is mainly known for housing one of the four obsidian sources in central-western Mediterranean, the Monte Arci [START_REF] Lugliè | A map of the Monte Arci (Sardinia Island, Western Mediterranean) obsidian primary to secondary sources. Implications for Neolithic provenance studies[END_REF][START_REF] Tykot | The Sources and Distribution of Sardinian obsidian[END_REF]). Specifically, the MNB-San Ciriaco phase is of great interest, due to the role of these societies in developing technical, economic and cultural changes during the second half of 5 th millennium BC. San Ciriaco culture was first identified on the basis of pottery morphotypology as a subsequent phase of the original all-embracing Middle Neolithic Bonu Ighinu culture [START_REF] Lugliè | La ceramica di facies S. Ciriaco nel Neolitico Superiore della Sardegna: evoluzione interna e apporti extrainsulari[END_REF]Santoni, 1982a-b;[START_REF] Santoni | L'orizzonte Neolitico Superiore di Cuccuru s'Arriu di Cabras[END_REF][START_REF] Ugas | La tomba dei guerrieri di Decimoputzu[END_REF], which actually constitutes the first phase of Middle Neolithic in Sardinia (MNA: 4800-4500 cal BC, fig. 1,b;[START_REF] Sebis | Atti della XLIV Riunione Scientifica dell'Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria "La preistoria e la protostoria della Sardegna[END_REF]. MNB phase corresponds to the full development of Neolithic economy in the island, with an increased number of open-air settlements, possibly linked to farming expansion [START_REF] Usai | Il Neolitico medio[END_REF]. Faunal remains include ruminant (ovicaprids, i.e. sheep or goat, cattle) and non-ruminant (wild boar/pig) species, less frequently aquatic (mollusc shells, fish) resources [START_REF] Boschian | Prime ricerche nell'abitato neolitico di Contraguda (Perfugas, Sassari)[END_REF][START_REF] Lugliè | The S2 structure in the household settlement of Su Mulinu Mannu-Terralba[END_REF][START_REF] Santoni | L'orizzonte Neolitico Superiore di Cuccuru s'Arriu di Cabras[END_REF]. Botanical analyses revealed the exploitation of free threshing wheat, naked barley, legumes and wild fruits [START_REF] Ucchesu | Crop and wild plant exploitation in Italy during the Neolithic period: New data from Su Mulinu Mannu, Middle Neolithic site of Sardinia[END_REF]. Interestingly, crucial transformations appear in technical and symbolical behaviours during this phase. Monte Arci obsidian exploitation systems shift from a household procurement strategy towards a craft production in workshops close to distinct outcrops, expanding the diffusion of this lithic material in north-western Mediterranean networks [START_REF] Binder | La circulation de l'obsidienne dans le Sud de la France au Néolithique[END_REF][START_REF] Lugliè | L'obsidienne néolithique en Méditerranée Occidentale[END_REF][START_REF] Lugliè | From the perspective of the source. Neolithic production and exchange of Monte Arci obsidians (central-western Sardinia)[END_REF]. The appearance of the first burials in hypogea from MNA reflects an increasing complexity in MN societies (Santoni, 1982a(Santoni, -b, 2000)), which is also suggested by the circulation of prestige goods (ornaments, stone vessels, axes) during MNB. This phase is also marked by symbolically invested practices such as "structured deposition" of objects (i.e., stacked pottery vessels) in pits [START_REF] Fanti | La fonction des récipients céramiques dans les sociétés du Néolithique Moyen B (4500-4000 cal BC) en Sardaigne centre-occidentale (Italie). Indices fonctionnels, économiques, interculturels à partir de l'analyse des caractéristiques morphométriques, des résidus organiques et des traces d'usure des poteries[END_REF][START_REF] Fanti | Pozzetti, buche, piccole fosse, silos…" Le strutture in negativo neolitiche di piccole dimensioni: metodi di indagine e problemi interpretativi[END_REF]. [START_REF] Fanti | Pozzetti, buche, piccole fosse, silos…" Le strutture in negativo neolitiche di piccole dimensioni: metodi di indagine e problemi interpretativi[END_REF]Lugliè, 2014, in press;[START_REF] Sebis | Atti della XLIV Riunione Scientifica dell'Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria "La preistoria e la protostoria della Sardegna[END_REF].

Pottery production is dominated by undecorated fine ware with depurated and compacted pastes, thin walls (<5 mm), burnished to polished surfaces; sand-tempered coarser pottery is less frequent [START_REF] Lugliè | Elementi culturali del Neolitico medio-superiore da alcuni insediamenti del Sinis[END_REF][START_REF] Ugas | La tomba dei guerrieri di Decimoputzu[END_REF]. Emblematic zoomorphic decorations on stone and pottery vessels [START_REF] Lugliè | La ceramica di facies S. Ciriaco nel Neolitico Superiore della Sardegna: evoluzione interna e apporti extrainsulari[END_REF] suggest the increased importance of ruminants in economy and symbolical realm of MNB societies. Extraordinarily for Early/Middle Neolithic phases, in several MNB assemblages the vessels profiles and surfaces are exceptionally well-preserved: this encourages the application of a broad-spectrum approach, taking into consideration all the evidences inherent in and preserved by containers, i.e. dimensional features like capacity and use-wear alteration on surfaces, in relationship with residues analysis.

The specific aims of this study are:

-to elucidate pottery use in MNB societies, by outlining implication of pottery containers in subsistence systems, i.e. in the activities linked to processing, storing and serving different kinds of food, whose variety is observed in the faunal and botanical record; -to assess the importance of ruminant products, apparently reflected in the symbolic realm;

-to obtain data on MNB economy, in order to contribute to the knowledge of the wealth of those societies that played a leading role in the increased diffusion of obsidian in western Mediterranean.

A broader goal is to contribute to the construction of a more detailed scenario on the topic of vessels function during the Neolithic, by outlining specificities in the use of pottery at regional scales.

In order to address these issues, we follow an integrated interdisciplinary methodology, on the basis of previous studies in different scientific domains (archaeology, traceology, chemistry: Vieugué et al., 2008;[START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF]. Simultaneously, we combine the archaeological analysis of morphometric and morphological characteristics of vessels, the observation of use-wear on pottery surfaces and the biomolecular and compound-specific carbon isotopic analysis by HT GC-FID (High Temperature Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionisation Detector), GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) and GC-C-IRMS (Gas Chromatography-Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry).

Middle Neolithic B in central-western Sardinia: environment, contexts and pottery assemblages

Paleoenvironmental studies have shown that the landscape of central-western Sardinia, surrounding the Oristano Gulf (fig. 1,a), was characterised by alternating alluvial terraces, sand dunes and interdunal wetlands, modeled by stream channels linked to the Tirso, Rio Mogoro, Flumini Mannu and Rio Sitzerri rivers system [START_REF] Bertorino | Insediamenti all'aperto della Sardegna centrooccidentale nel Neolitico Antico: ambiente e produzione ceramica[END_REF][START_REF] Pittau | Palynological interpretation of the Early Neolithic coastal open-air site at Sa Punta (central-western Sardinia, Italy)[END_REF].

Several MNB sites appear to gravitate towards this costal and wetland environment, near to the Monte Arci [START_REF] Lugliè | L'obsidienne néolithique en Méditerranée Occidentale[END_REF][START_REF] Lugliè | From the perspective of the source. Neolithic production and exchange of Monte Arci obsidians (central-western Sardinia)[END_REF][START_REF] Usai | Il Neolitico medio[END_REF]), but few of these have been fully investigated thus far.

In the Gribaia site (Nurachi, OR), known from surface finds since 1950s (fig. 2,a; [START_REF] Atzeni | La Dea Madre nelle culture prenuragiche[END_REF][START_REF] Lugliè | Elementi culturali del Neolitico medio-superiore da alcuni insediamenti del Sinis[END_REF], a preventive excavation uncovered an area with 30 small pits (20-40 cm diameter and 20-30 cm depth), filled with selected objects or faunal remains [START_REF] Fanti | Pozzetti, buche, piccole fosse, silos…" Le strutture in negativo neolitiche di piccole dimensioni: metodi di indagine e problemi interpretativi[END_REF][START_REF] Soro | Between necessity and economy: the archaeological field excavation at Gribaia (Sardinia, Italy). A photogrammetical solution to document a small archaeological heritage[END_REF]. Ten pits held "sets" of exceptionally well-preserved almost complete MNB vessels, stacked and sometimes overturned one on top of each other. Similar "groups" of well-preserved MNB vessels have also been recovered in the open-air site of Bau Angius-Terralba (fig. 2,b;[START_REF] Lugliè | La ceramica di facies S. Ciriaco nel Neolitico Superiore della Sardegna: evoluzione interna e apporti extrainsulari[END_REF]. Unfortunately, no faunal/botanical data were documented in this site.

The open-air site of Su Mulinu Mannu (TMM)-Terralba, near Bau Angius and the eponym site of San Ciriaco (fig. 2,c), is a MNB household settlement. There, many typical structures are irregular pits filled with household waste: abundant pottery sherds, lithics (mainly obsidian), ground-stone and bone tools, together with faunal (cattle, ovicaprids, boar/pig, fish) and botanical remains (Lugliè et al., forthcoming). The assemblage from the only one excavated MNB inland site in central-western Sardinia (Su Forru de is Sinzurreddus-Pau, OR) being unavailable for sampling thus far, we focus our investigation on the previously described three sites.

Materials and methods

3.1 Materials and post-excavation protocol All the sherds from the three MNB assemblages were firstly observed before washing, in order to recognise and preserve visible residues, document them by photography, and take samples. At that time, a first phase of refitting was conducted to determine the number of vessels, to obtain vessel profiles as complete as possible for morphometric analysis, and to select sherds for chemical analyses before cleaning and restoration. Nitrile gloves were systematically used to minimise contamination during the handling for refitting and sampling. Afterwards, sherds with no evidence of visible residues were washed under gentle streams of demineralised water and cleaned with very soft brushes. All the phases of sherd cleaning and storage were meticulously controlled in order to preserve the ceramic surfaces and use-wear traces against post-excavation alteration. A second phase of refitting and an additional sampling of sherds were made after cleaning, which also included two vessels from Bau Angius site previously reconstructed and published [START_REF] Lugliè | La ceramica di facies S. Ciriaco nel Neolitico Superiore della Sardegna: evoluzione interna e apporti extrainsulari[END_REF]. A total of 198 vessels have been identified through the refitting of around 8000 sherds from the entire assemblages of the three MNB sites, and studied (table 1). The study of vessel morphology and morphometry, together with patterns of use-wear and biochemical analyses of contents, can provide information about use habits (i.e., the quantity of food prepared and stored, the selection of some types of vessels for specific purposes), pointing to economic and social behaviours linked to the consumption and conservation of food [START_REF] Arthur | Pottery use-alteration as an indicator of socioeconomic status: an ethnoarchaeological study of the Gamo of Ethiopia[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Understanding Pottery Function[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Contribution méthodologique à l'analyse fonctionnelle des céramiques d'un habitat néolithique: l'exemple de Kovačevo (6200 -5500 av[END_REF]. MNB pottery classification is based on morphodimensional features: type of profile (simple, inflected, high/medium/low carinated, "stepped-wall", necked), openness (rim diameter/maximum diameter ratio: =1: open, 0.99-0.76: restricted, 0.75-0.50: closed, < 0.50: very closed), depth (height/maximum diameter ratio: = 0.25-0.50: shallow, 0.51-0.75: medium-deep, 0.76->1: deep), volume1 , presence of handles.

Use-wear analysis

Use-wear analysis provides evidence on pottery use in relation with fire exposure, ways of moving/placing vessels, and modalities of food processing, serving or storing [START_REF] Arthur | Pottery use-alteration as an indicator of socioeconomic status: an ethnoarchaeological study of the Gamo of Ethiopia[END_REF][START_REF] Kobayashi | Use-alteration analysis of Kalinga pottery[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF]. As shown by ethnoarchaeological and experimental studies, use-related alterations can be better understood by the study of (almost) complete or refitted containers; particularly, use-wear can be discriminated from non-use alteration [START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF] by characteristic patterns of occurrence and concentration on specific vessel parts (e.g., rim, lugs, bottom), whereas non-use alteration accidentally and/or completely covers ceramic surfaces and also edges/sections of sherds [START_REF] Dugay | Specialized pottery production on Bronze Age Cyprus and Pottery Usewear Analysis[END_REF][START_REF] Nielsen | Trampling the Archaeological Record: An Experimental Study[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | The Effects of Water on Processes of Ceramic Abrasion[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF]. Use-wear of ceramic surfaces is examined macroscopically and through a binocular microscope with low-magnification (10-40x), then identified by comparison with ethnoarchaeological, experimental and archaeological references [START_REF] Arthur | Pottery use-alteration as an indicator of socioeconomic status: an ethnoarchaeological study of the Gamo of Ethiopia[END_REF][START_REF] Reid | Pottery abrasion and the preparation of African grains[END_REF][START_REF] Regert | Adhesive production and pottery function during the Iron age at the site of Grand Aunay (Sarthe, France)[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Contribution méthodologique à l'analyse fonctionnelle des céramiques d'un habitat néolithique: l'exemple de Kovačevo (6200 -5500 av[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF]. Following J. Skibo's methodology, the traces on MNB assemblages have been recorded and described by type, distinguishing between attritions (scratches, abraded areas, pits, spalls, chips) and accretions (visible residues and soot), and by position on vessel profile: rim, exterior/interior upper, mid-, lower body, (exterior) base and (interior) bottom [START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF]. Furthermore, absorbed residues constitute a particular category of use-related traces, invisible to the naked eye, which provide information about not only vessel content(s) but also specific modalities of use, if characteristic patterns of distribution and concentration of residues are detected in the vessel profile [START_REF] Charters | Quantification and distribution of lipid in archaeological ceramics: implications for sampling potsherds for organic residue analysis and the classification of vessel use[END_REF][START_REF] Evershed | Experimental approaches to the interpretation of absorbed organic residues in archaeological ceramics[END_REF].

Biomolecular and isotopic analyses of organic residues: sampling strategy and

sample preparation A total of 116 sherds and 12 visible residues corresponding to 99 of the 198 vessels identified at the three sites were sampled for organic residues analysis (table 2). When possible, vessels were sampled at different points of their profile, in order to investigate patterns of residue concentration (see 3.2.2; Supplementary tables A.1-A.3). Visible residues (5-50 mg) and sherds (about 2x2 cm 2 , 2 g) were prepared for analyses by HT GC-FID, GC-MS and GC-C-IRMS following the established protocol for lipid residues analysis of archaeological pottery [START_REF] Evershed | Analysis of Organic Residues of Archaeological Origin by High-temperature Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography -Mass Spectrometry[END_REF][START_REF] Evershed | Application of Isotope Ratio Monitoring Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry to the Analysis of Organic Residues of Archaeological Origin[END_REF][START_REF] Copley | Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain[END_REF][START_REF] Regert | Analytical strategies for discriminating archaeological fatty substances from animal origin[END_REF], fully detailed in Supplementary data A.1.

Results

Morphological and morphometric classification of vessels

The classification of MNB vessels is summarised in fig. 3. Bowls have a broad morphological and morphometric variability, with different types of profile, open to low-restricted orifice, shallow to medium-deep height, little to medium sizes (<4 L). At the opposite, "ladle-bowls" have very distinct morphometric characteristics (open shallow/medium-deep simple profile and a robust handle), as well as pots, being restricted medium-deep carinated big-size vessels, mainly doublehandled (rim diameter: 20-30 cm, capacity: 4-9 L). Finally, "stepped-wall" and necked jars, sometimes handled, have closed orifice and deep body. Fragmentary big-size vessels with unidentifiable profiles are also documented from Bau Angius and Su Mulinu Mannu sites. Although almost all the vessel morphologies appear in the three sites, jars are absent in the Gribaia pits.

Use-wear traces

We observe carbon deposits both on exterior (ECD) and interior (ICD) pottery surfaces. According to the ethnographic, experimental and archaeological literature, the ECD can be related to soot deposition caused by fire exposure or to the carbonisation of vessel content that boiled over [START_REF] Craig | Earliest evidence for the use of pottery[END_REF][START_REF] Duplaix-Rata | Les dépôts alimentaires carbonises[END_REF][START_REF] Hally | Use-Alteration of Pottery Vessel Surfaces: An Important Source of Evidence for the Identification of Vessel Function[END_REF][START_REF] Pétrequin | La céramique du niveau V et le Néolithique Moyen Bourgouignon[END_REF][START_REF] Craig | Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Exploring the Origines of Pottery on the Colorado Plateau[END_REF]. Based on their macro-/microscopic appearance and distribution on vessel surfaces, the ECD on MNB vessels are consistent with soot (fig. 4,a-d), partly affected by post-depositional alteration [START_REF] Beck | Sample Selection for Ceramic Use-alteration Analysis: the Effects of Abrasion on Soot[END_REF][START_REF] Kobayashi | Use-alteration analysis of Kalinga pottery[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF]. Moreover, no lipids were detected in samples from these deposits by HT-GC-FID analysis (see 4.3 and Supplementary tables A.1-A.3). ICD are produced by charring of vessel content: on MNB vessels, they are fine charred layers usually associated to black patches, which correspond to carbon deposits penetrated below the ceramic surface (fig. 4,e-f; Kobayashi, 1994: 144;Skibo, 1992: 148).

Carbon deposits on exterior surfaces and/or interior body and bottom appear only on one category of MNB vessels: big-size handled pots (fig. 3 and4,a-d). This reflects a selection of specific vessels for processing products with heating. Two patterns of use-wear can be distinguished on interior surfaces: a) intense abrasion stopping at lower body, and no abrasion of bottom, which is covered by a black patch and/or fine carbonised residues, in the pots (fig. 4, e-f); b) fine scratches with variable orientation in a few bowls and one jar, possibly related to cutting and/or mixing contents (fig. 5, a-b). Exterior base attrition appears on both pots and bowls with different shapes and sizes, as peripheral (fig. 5,c) to covering abrasion (fig. 5,d). These different patterns of base abrasion are not strictly correlated with base morphology, but could be linked to several factors: the intensity, frequency and duration of use, the different ways of moving and placing vessels (i.e., in the case of peripheral alteration, inclining the containers to facilitate processing or removing content), or the use of different kinds of supports [START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF]. Rim abrasions are rare, possibly due to covering or upturning the vessels [START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF]. Altogether, these patterns of use-wear are comparable in all sites.

HT GC-FID, GC-MS and GC-C-IRMS results

Molecular and isotopic results are fully presented in Supplementary tables A.1-A.3. Only potsherd extracts held organic material, whereas visible residues did not provide any exploitable signal. 27 of the 128 samples analysed by HT GC-FID (23%) retained a lipid concentration higher than 5 μg/g, meeting the accepted criteria of [START_REF] Evershed | Experimental approaches to the interpretation of absorbed organic residues in archaeological ceramics[END_REF], with the greatest conservation in pottery from Bau Angius site (table 2). This percentage is coherent with the average conservation of lipids in pottery from Mediterranean contexts [START_REF] Debono Spiteri | The transition to agriculture in Western Mediterranean. Evidence from pots[END_REF], 2016;[START_REF] Evershed | Earliest date for milk use in the Near East and southeastern Europe linked to cattle herding[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | New insights into the Early Neolithic economy and management of animals in Southern and Central Europe revealed using lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels[END_REF]. Samples with modern contamination markers (squalene, restoration glue components) are excluded from any further discussion. Chromatograms are dominated by saturated fatty acids, mainly C16:0 and C18:0, sometimes with mono-and diacylglycerols, animal or plant sterols (fig. 6). Considering the palmitic/stearic ratio (P/S), the very high abundance of C18:0 in samples from Bau Angius (P/S: 0.03-0.25) suggests an animal origin for the lipids (fig. 6,a). Conversely, in several vessels from Gribaia, high concentration of C16:0 compared to C18:0 (P/S >1.4, even >5 in NG-G03/02 sample), presence of unsaturated fatty acids (C16:1, C18:1-C18:2), series of odd-numbered long-chain alkanes (C21-C35), even-numbered linear alcohols (C22OH-C34OH), and sometimes plant sterols (mainly β-sitosterol) are consistent with plant products (fig. 6,b and 7,a, Supplementary table A.2; [START_REF] Dunne | First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium BC[END_REF][START_REF] Dunne | Earliest direct evidence of plant processing in prehistoric Saharan pottery[END_REF]. 1) TAGs C44/C48-C54, max C52 (NG-G01/04a, NG-G06/05b, NG-G20/06f), typical of animal adipose fats (Mukherjee et al., 2007, fig. 2); 2) TAGs C48-C54, largely dominated by C48 (NG-G6/05at, NG-G15/03b, NG-G09/03a). The close analysis of the mass spectrum of peak C48 in samples NG-G15/03b and NG-G06/05at reveals that it is mainly constituted of palmitolein (TAGs composed of 3 palmitoleic acid moieties), an infrequent signature in archaeological residues, which suggests an aquatic or vegetal origin, perhaps an unknown plant residue (Evershed et al., 2003: 6;[START_REF] Jones | On the Beach: New Discoveries at Harlyn Bay[END_REF][START_REF] Regert | Characterisation of wax works of art by gaschromatographic procedures[END_REF][START_REF] Skibo | Early pottery in the North American Upper Great Lakes: exploring traces of use[END_REF][START_REF] Šoberl | Organic Residues Analysis[END_REF]. The TAGs distribution in sample NG-G09/03a is similar but TAGs are present in much smaller quantities, making the close analysis of their mass spectra impossible; 3) "Mixed" patterns: TAGs C48-C54, max C50 (NG-G01/03a), TAGs C42-C54, max C48 (NG-G03/02a), possibly resulting from multiple episodes of use/mixed foodstuffs (Mukherjee et al., 2008, fig. 5). 16 of the 27 samples with TLE concentrations >5 μg/g were directly analysed by GC-C-IRMS (Supplementary tables A.1-A.3). Fatty acid extracted from the vessels were not noticeably enriched in 13 C (δ 13 CC16:0 values usually under -25‰ and δ 13 CC18:0 under -27‰), which suggests that they are terrestrial in origin, except for sample TMM1973a (fig. 8). Most of the δ 13 C values of fatty acids (9 samples: BANG178a, BANG609a, BANG616a, BANG631a, NG-G03/01a, NG-G09/03a, NG-G15/02a, NG-G15/06a, TMM1428a) plot under the line Δ 13 C= -3.3‰, within the range of dairy products [START_REF] Copley | Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain[END_REF]. Some studies cautioned against the risk of misinterpretation of residues in the case of compresence of wild ruminants like deer, because δ 13 C values of domesticated ruminant (i.e. dairy) products and deer adipose can be partially superposed [START_REF] Craig | Distinguishing wild ruminant lipids by gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry[END_REF]. Favourably, the absence of wild ruminants in Early and Middle Neolithic faunal assemblages in Sardinia [START_REF] Wilkens | Archeozoologia. Il Mediterraneo, la storia, la Sardegna[END_REF] rules out the possibility of a misinterpretation of MNB residues.

The 13 C values of five samples (BANG604a, NG-G01/03a, NG-G06/05at, NG-G20/06f, TMM11655a) are consistent with the reference established for ruminant adipose fat (Δ 13 C between -0 and -3.3 ‰), while an unidentified terrestrial animal fat is present in sample NG-G01/04a [START_REF] Copley | Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain[END_REF][START_REF] Mukherjee | Trends in pig product processing at British Neolithic Grooved Ware sites traced through organic residues in potsherds[END_REF].

One sample (TMM1973a) plots in the ellipse of marine fats, but we did not detect any aquatic biomarker, such as isoprenoid fatty acids (phytanic and pristanic acids, 4,8,12-trimethyltridecanoic acid) and heating markers (ω-(o-alkylphenyl) alkanoic acids; Craig et al., 2007a[START_REF] Craig | Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe[END_REF][START_REF] Craig | Earliest evidence for the use of pottery[END_REF]Cramp et al., 2014a;[START_REF] Hansel | Thermally produced ω-(oalkylphenyl)alkanoic acids provide evidence for the processing of marine products in archaeological pottery vessels[END_REF]. Furthermore, the calculation of Δ 13 C indicates that it is more likely a ruminant adipose fat. The slight enriched δ 13 C values of palmitic acid extracted from this sample and three others (BANG609a, BANG616a and NG-G09/03a) could result of the contribution from C4, marine or waterlogged plants in the diet (Craig et al., 2005a;[START_REF] Copley | Direct chemical evidence for widespread dairying in prehistoric Britain[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | New insights into the Early Neolithic economy and management of animals in Southern and Central Europe revealed using lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels[END_REF][START_REF] Šoberl | Neolithic and Eneolithic activities inferred from organic residue analysis of pottery from Mala Triglavca, Moverna vas and Ajdovska jama[END_REF]. Feeding livestock with marine products such as seaweed is mainly observed in northern areas with limited resource during winter (Craig et al., 2005a); for Sardinian Neolithic sites, enriched δ 13 CC16:0 values are more likely related to the waterlogged environment. Indeed, this flat region crossed by stream and rivers and covered by wetland vegetation is ideally suited for domestic animal grazing [START_REF] Pittau | Palynological interpretation of the Early Neolithic coastal open-air site at Sa Punta (central-western Sardinia, Italy)[END_REF]. More generally, the large differences in δ 13 CC16:0 values could be explained by the diversity of the fodders and pastures. Large amount of hexadecenoic acid (C16:1), in concentration almost equal to C16:0 and higher than C18:0 and C18:1 have been detected in samples NG-G01/02a and TMM03633a (fig. 6,c). This molecular profile does not fit with the fatty material usually identified in archaeological ceramics. High amount of C16:1 has been highlighted in fat from archaeological seal bones [START_REF] Heron | Cooking fish and drinking milk? Patterns in pottery use in the southeastern Baltic, 3300-2400 cal BC[END_REF] and in some modern seals [START_REF] Ackman | Marine biogenic lipids, fats and oils[END_REF]. The presence of monk seals (Monachus monachus) during 5 th millennium cal BC is attested in the Bel Torrente submerged costal cave, central-eastern Sardinia [START_REF] De Waele | Monk seal (Monachus monachus) bones in Bel Torrente Cave (central-east Sardinia) and their paleogeographical significance[END_REF]. Nevertheless, none of the Sardinian Neolithic faunal assemblages displayed evidence of marine mammal exploitation thus far [START_REF] Wilkens | Archeozoologia. Il Mediterraneo, la storia, la Sardegna[END_REF]. Furthermore, no aquatic biomarkers have been identified in the Sardinian vessels. High concentration of hexadecenoic acid is rare in the plant kingdom, but it has been identified in oil extracted from sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) berries [START_REF] Dubois | Fatty acid profiles of 80 vegetable oils with regard to their nutritional potential[END_REF][START_REF] Yang | Fatty Acid Composition of Lipids in Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) Berries of Different Origins[END_REF]. Nevertheless, this shrub is not documented in the environment of the island during Neolithic [START_REF] Bartish | Late Quaternary history of Hippophaë rhamnoides L. (Eleagnaceae) inferred from chalcone synthase intron (Chsi) sequences and chloroplast DNA variation[END_REF][START_REF] Pittau | Palynological interpretation of the Early Neolithic coastal open-air site at Sa Punta (central-western Sardinia, Italy)[END_REF]. The presence of the C16:1 might be related to the TAGs profiles dominated by unsaturated C48, as attested in samples NG-G6/05at and NG-G15/03b (fig. 7,a). A triacylglycerol's distribution dominated by C48 is typical of kernels of sumac plants (Rhus genus), known as Japan wax [START_REF] Regert | Characterisation of wax works of art by gaschromatographic procedures[END_REF]. Nevertheless, in this product, C48 is saturated (tripalmitin); furthermore, Rhus genus does not seem to be characteristic of Neolithic botanical assemblages in Italy [START_REF] Mercuri | Pollen and macroremains from Holocene archaeological sites: A dataset for the understanding of the bio-cultural diversity of the Italian landscape[END_REF], while some species (i.e., Rhus coriaria) are attested during Neolithic in Greece [START_REF] Ntinou | Local Vegetation and Charcoal Analysis: An Example from Two Neolithic Sites in Northern Greece[END_REF]. As a hypothesis, the residues in our samples could be attributed to a fatty material of vegetal origin, whose source in Sardinia must be assessed by further analyses. Because C16:1 is abundant in skin lipid composition and a common component of cosmetics, as well as tripalmitolein, it has been also considered as a potential modern contamination marker [START_REF] Šoberl | Organic Residues Analysis[END_REF]. In consequence, these residues could be tentatively assigned to unknown plant oil or a modern contamination. Nonetheless, other plant biomarkers (odd-numbered long-chain alkanes C21-C33 and even-numbered linear alcohols C22OH-C34OH) point to vegetal products at Gribaia (Supplementary table A.2). One sample seems to be only characterised by these plant biomarkers (NG-G03/06a) while some others have also evidences of dairy products (NG-G09/03a) or adipose fat (NG-G03/02a, NG-G06/05at, NG-G20/06f: fig. 6,b).

In the sample NG-G03/02a, the singular pattern of triacylglycerol distribution can be explained by mixtures of vegetal and animal products (fig. 7,b). Then, on the basis of GC-MS and GC-C-IRMS data, some vessels from Gribaia contained ruminant adipose or dairy fats with plant products, which could result from multiple episodes of use or from "recipes" combining different kinds of foodstuffs.

Mid-chain secondary ketones (C31-C35), markers of anthropogenic transformation of fats (heated at a temperature > 350°C: [START_REF] Evershed | Formation of Long-Chain Ketones in Ancient Pottery Vessels By Pyrolysis of Acyl Lipids[END_REF][START_REF] Raven | Formation of long-chain ketones in archaeological pottery vessels by pyrolysis of acyl lipids[END_REF][START_REF] Regert | Elucidating pottery function Using a Multi-Step Analytical Methodology Combining Infrared Spectroscopy, Mass Spectrometry and Chromatographic Procedures[END_REF], have been detected in only one carinated bowl from Gribaia (NG-G01/04a, fig. 6,d).

Considering the relative proportion of the types of contents in vessels from the three sites, some differences emerge (table 3, fig. 9). In Bau Angius, only animal fats, ruminant adipose and dairy products were processed in the vessels, whereas Su Mulinu Mannu and Gribaia pottery held a broader range of commodities, such as plant products. Despite accurate flotation and sieving, no macro-botanical evidence was found at Gribaia, while cultivated cereals, legumes, gathered and wild plants (notably, Malva sp.) are documented at Su Mulinu Mannu [START_REF] Ucchesu | Crop and wild plant exploitation in Italy during the Neolithic period: New data from Su Mulinu Mannu, Middle Neolithic site of Sardinia[END_REF]. Nevertheless, the absence of carpological remains at Gribaia fits into the general lack of carbonised (e.g., charcoal) remains in the sediment. On the other hand, carbonised deposits appear on vessel surfaces. This divergence between data on pottery use and context could be explained in terms of spatial differentiation (the activities involving fire, e.g. cooking with and without pots, were performed elsewhere in the site) and/or by the particular status of this site, characterised by the deposition of vessels (brought from elsewhere?) in pits (Fanti et al., forthcoming). Fig. 9: Inter-site differences on the contents of MNB pottery vessels from Bau Angius, Gribaia and Su Mulinu Mannu sites.

Discussion: identifying functional categories in MNB pottery

By combining all morphological, morphometric, use-wear and chemical data, we identified six categories of vessel use (table 4, fig. 10), arising from three broader functional realms [START_REF] Rice | Pottery analysis: a sourcebook[END_REF]): processing (categories 1-Processing with heating, 2-Processing without heating); consumption (categories 4-Drawing/distribution, 5-Serving/eating); storing (category 6-Storing). The minor cross-category 3-Processing/storing perhaps reflects a secondary use of the vessel.

In category 1-Processing with heating, cooking vessels are identified through the presence of soot on the exterior surfaces, black patches and/or fine carbonised residues on the interior bottoms, sometimes associated to interior body abrasion. Several assemblages in central-northern Europe bear traces of sooting (Craig et al. 2007b;Cramp et al., 2014a;[START_REF] Isaksson | Lipid residue analyses of Early Neolithic funnel-beaker pottery from Skogsmossen, eastern Central Sweden, and the earliest evidence of dairying in Sweden[END_REF][START_REF] Heron | Cooking fish and drinking milk? Patterns in pottery use in the southeastern Baltic, 3300-2400 cal BC[END_REF][START_REF] Müller | Ceramics and society in Northern Europe[END_REF], while the conservation of soot is not systematically documented in the studies about pottery use in southern Europe [START_REF] Debono Spiteri | Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | New insights into the Early Neolithic economy and management of animals in Southern and Central Europe revealed using lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Contribution méthodologique à l'analyse fonctionnelle des céramiques d'un habitat néolithique: l'exemple de Kovačevo (6200 -5500 av[END_REF][START_REF] Vuković | Beginnings -New Research in the Appearance of the Neolithic between Northwest Anatolia and the Carpathian Basin[END_REF]. This absence could be due to the loss of soot in post-depositional contexts [START_REF] Beck | Sample Selection for Ceramic Use-alteration Analysis: the Effects of Abrasion on Soot[END_REF] or to cleaning, restoration and conservation practices [START_REF] Kobayashi | Use-alteration analysis of Kalinga pottery[END_REF][START_REF] Stacey | Organic Residues: Origin, Analysis and Scope. An Overview for the Archaeological Ceramicist[END_REF]. In MNB assemblages, the conservation of soot is probably enhanced by the exceptional depositional characteristics (i.e., deposits of stacked vessels in pits) and by controlled post-excavation protocol. MNB cooking pots are very homogeneous in morphology and morphometry, being restricted medium-deep and handled vessels with a capacity of ca. 4 to 9 L. Thus, cooking activities had to involve a quantity of food shared by several persons or prepared to be stored over a period of time. These vessels were generally used to cook ruminant fats, dairy products at Bau Angius and/or plant materials at Gribaia. At that site, the plant biomarkers could suggest a recipe combining animal fats and vegetables or multiple episodes of cooking. Only one open shallow carinated vessel from Gribaia (fig. 10, NG-G01/04) contains animal fat and mid-chain secondary ketones, heating markers (fig. 6,d). Interestingly, the ketones are not associated to visible soot in the bowl surface and, conversely, no cooking pot having exterior soot retains residues with ketones. This confirms the lack of a strict correlation between the two kinds of traces, already observed in other archaeological contexts [START_REF] Heron | Effects of Migration of Soil Lipids on Organic Residues Associated with Buried Potsherds[END_REF]Craig et al., 2007b). Furthermore, heating of fatty substances could occur during pottery use (i.e. successive cooking events; [START_REF] Evershed | Formation of Long-Chain Ketones in Ancient Pottery Vessels By Pyrolysis of Acyl Lipids[END_REF][START_REF] Raven | Formation of long-chain ketones in archaeological pottery vessels by pyrolysis of acyl lipids[END_REF] but also in the final phase of pottery production [START_REF] Drieu | Fabrication et usages des poteries durant le Néolithique et la Protohistoire en Europe : les apports de l'archéologie biomoléculaire[END_REF]Drieu, Lepère and Regert, unpublished data). As a consequence, NG-G01/04 bowl is dubitatively assigned to this use-category. The scarcity of molecular heating markers in MNB vessels can be due to low-temperature cooking process (< 350°C) of fats not allowing the formation of ketones and ω-(o-alkylphenyl) alkanoic acids. Then, cooking in MNB pottery has involved usually low-temperature processes such as simmering or boiling, rather than frying (Skibo, 2013: 85-88). Interestingly, one vessel from Bau Angius (BANG178), sampled at different points of profile, retained a very high lipid concentration, decreasing from rim to bottom (Supplementary table A.1). As demonstrated by experimental and archaeological data, this pattern of lipid concentration is coherent with the use of vessels in boiling foodstuffs [START_REF] Charters | Simulation Experiments for Determining the Use of Ancient Pottery Vessels: the Behaviour of Epicuticular Leaf Wax During Boiling of a Leafy Vegetable[END_REF], in this case dairy products. Less clearly, a lipid concentration decreasing from upper to mid-body seems to appear in the vessel NG-G15/03 from Gribaia, whose samples held plant biomarkers (upper body) and a mixed signal (mid-body). This variation of content at different points of the vessel profile is also documented in NG-G06/05, and could reflect multiple uses (filling the vessel at different levels) or mixing products with different density [START_REF] Charters | Evidence for the mixing of fats and waxes in archaeological ceramics[END_REF]. Some cooking pots bear an intense abrasion of interior surfaces stopping near their bottoms, which are covered by a black patch and/or fine carbonised residues (BANG204, BANG445, NG-G06/05, NG-G20/06: Table 4, fig. 4, e-f). This abrasion of interior surfaces may have been caused by strong or repeated mixing of food. Interestingly, this pattern of use-wear compares with an ethnographic record of vessel use for processing grains [START_REF] Reid | Pottery abrasion and the preparation of African grains[END_REF]. This kind of alteration is correlated with very low or no lipid signal at Bau Angius, whereas at Gribaia residues from these vessels show "mixed" signals of animal fats with plant materials (fig. 67). Dairy fats, in one case mixed with plant products, were also detected in mid-size shallow or slightly restricted carinated bowls, with scratches on interior surfaces but without exterior sooting (fig. 5, a-b). This use-wear pattern characterises the functional category 2-Processing without heating (fig. 10) and could be related to stirring milk products in fermenting [START_REF] Lugli | Making and using ceramics: on the role of technical events in the generation of functional types[END_REF]. In this case, the presence of plant biomarkers could also derive from adding a vegetable coagulant [START_REF] Atzei | Le piante nella tradizione popolare della Sardegna[END_REF][START_REF] Gouin | Rapes, jarres et faisselles : la production et l'exportation des produits laitiers dans l'Indus du 3e millénaire[END_REF]. This practice would not be an isolated case in Neolithic, being also suggested from vessel residues in continental site of Clairvaux XIV-Jura, France (Drieu et al., submitted). The abrasion of interior surfaces is quite infrequent, which suggests that bowls were not systematically involved in activities implying intense mechanical transformation of products (cutting, grinding, stirring). Most of the bowls, having a wider morphological and morphometric variability (0.15-4 L volume), often showing only exterior base abrasion, were probably used in consumption of food and drinks (category 5-Serving/eating). The identified contents are ruminant adipose fats, dairy fats, plant products or undetermined animal fats sometimes with plant biomarkers. Rim abrasions on some vessels from categories 1 and 5 (table 4) is perhaps due to covering, respectively during heating and serving foods, or placing upturned [START_REF] Skibo | Pottery function: a use-alteration perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Use-wear analysis of prehistoric pottery: methodological contribution from the study of the earliest ceramic vessels in Bulgaria (6100-5500 BC)[END_REF].

Transfer was achieved by drawing products through a specific-designed pottery tool, the "ladlebowl" (0.15 to 0.25 L capacity), equipped with a big handle that counterbalanced the weight of contents during activity (category 4-Drawing/distribution). As revealed by residues analysis, one ladle-bowl from Gribaia was used to transfer foodstuffs containing ruminant adipose fats (perhaps, a soup?).

Storing (category 6-storing) was performed in closed-deep necked jars having a capacity of about 5 L, where lipids were not detected, then possibly used for liquids, as water; incomplete big size vessels, whose morphology cannot be reconstructed, were used to store animal fats at Su Mulinu Mannu. Nevertheless, some big size vessels could have been also used to store other kinds of lowfat foodstuffs like grains or pulses.

No precise correlation between the kind of foodstuffs and vessel morphology is evident, but two opposed behaviours emerge in the relationship between morphometry and use category, with a strong specialisation of a particular type of vessel for cooking ("specialized" handled pots with > 4 L capacity, except for only one bowl), while serving/eating is performed in bowls with a broader morphological and morphometric (< 4 L volume) variability.

Although boar/pig bones and teeth appear in faunal remains from Su Mulinu Mannu and Gribaia, δ 13 C values of non-ruminants fats (i.e., porcine fats) are lacking in MNB vessel residues. This suggests that different technical subsystems [START_REF] Vigne | Faciès culturels et sous-système technique de l'acquisition des ressources animales. Application au Néolithique ancien méditerranéen[END_REF] were carried out by MNB groups in processing resources from different terrestrial species. Perhaps, non-ruminant products were preferably processed without pottery (i.e., by roasting, smoking, salting). Furthermore, perishable containers could have been used in order to serving roasted meat and, eventually, storing dried and/or smoked porcine products.

No evidence of processing marine resources in MNB pottery has been provided by organic residue analysis. Nevertheless, fish are attested among faunal remains of Su Mulinu Mannu (Lugliè et al., forthcoming), and piles of shells were separately discarded in specific pits near the vessels deposits at Gribaia [START_REF] Fanti | Pozzetti, buche, piccole fosse, silos…" Le strutture in negativo neolitiche di piccole dimensioni: metodi di indagine e problemi interpretativi[END_REF][START_REF] Soro | Between necessity and economy: the archaeological field excavation at Gribaia (Sardinia, Italy). A photogrammetical solution to document a small archaeological heritage[END_REF]. In the case of Middle Neolithic in Sardinia, the faunal and pottery data could suggest a particular behaviour, i.e. the (occasional? seasonal?) consumption of aquatic products, apparently without using pottery vessels.

Concluding remarks

This study showed the fruitful application of a combined approach in addressing functional analysis of pottery, in order to recognise specific behaviours of Neolithic societies in the activities aimed at processing, consuming and storing resources, and in the way of embodying vessels within their socioeconomic systems. Six functional categories have been identified in San Ciriaco-MNB assemblages, where distinctive patterns of wear reflect precise habits on the use of pottery.

Our research provided evidence of dairy products in Sardinian Neolithic and underlined the importance of ruminant products in the economic systems of MNB societies (notably, in Bau Angius), also reflected in the symbolic realm by emblematic zoomorphic vessels and decorations [START_REF] Lugliè | La ceramica di facies S. Ciriaco nel Neolitico Superiore della Sardegna: evoluzione interna e apporti extrainsulari[END_REF]. Nevertheless, inter-site dissimilarities emerge, with a stronger importance of vegetal products in Gribaia, where plant biomarkers appear in 46% of samples. These first results should be completed with additional analysis on other MNB sites to establish if this reflects an economic (perhaps, sub-regional?) diversification in the use of resources or differential preservation contexts.

Placing our data in a Mediterranean perspective, the results about Sardinian MNB residues are strictly coherent with available data from Early and Middle Neolithic sites in central-western Mediterranean, showing the importance of ruminant products [START_REF] Debono Spiteri | Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean[END_REF]. Indeed, as in the rest of Italian sites studied thus far, the lacking of beeswax biomarkers in pottery vessels has to be highlighted [START_REF] Roffet-Salque | Widespread Exploitation of the Honeybee by Early Neolithic Farmers[END_REF]. Contrariwise, vegetal residues in pottery vessels from central-western Mediterranean being almost unknown [START_REF] Debono Spiteri | Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean[END_REF], but documented in western Slovenia (Šoberl et al., 2014) and northern Africa [START_REF] Dunne | First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium BC[END_REF][START_REF] Dunne | Earliest direct evidence of plant processing in prehistoric Saharan pottery[END_REF], the site of Gribaia provides an exceptional direct evidence of processing plant products in Neolithic pottery vessels from this region. Aquatic biomarkers are absent in MNB vessels, as in pottery from other sites in central-western Mediterranean (Debono Spiteri et al., 2016;[START_REF] Salque | New insights into the Early Neolithic economy and management of animals in Southern and Central Europe revealed using lipid residue analyses of pottery vessels[END_REF]. This behaviour seems to be characteristic of Mediterranean Neolithic groups, which are thought to have culturally preferred terrestrial food avoiding aquatic products [START_REF] Debono Spiteri | Biomolecular and isotopic characterisation of lipid residues absorbed in Impressed Wares from the Early Neolithic village of Skorba[END_REF]. On the contrary, pottery vessels were used for processing aquatic products in several regions of northern Europe (e.g., Southern Scandinavia and Baltic region: [START_REF] Craig | Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe[END_REF][START_REF] Heron | Cooking fish and drinking milk? Patterns in pottery use in the southeastern Baltic, 3300-2400 cal BC[END_REF][START_REF] Isaksson | Lipid residue analyses of Early Neolithic funnel-beaker pottery from Skogsmossen, eastern Central Sweden, and the earliest evidence of dairying in Sweden[END_REF][START_REF] Oras | The adoption of pottery by north-east European hunter-gatherers: Evidence from lipid residue analysis[END_REF]. Notwithstanding, in MNA and MNB sites, mollusc shells and fish are part of the faunal remains [START_REF] Bignon | Les restes culinaires de Cuccuru is Arrius (Oristano, Sardaigne): nouveaux apports à la connaissance des économies néolithiques en domaine littoral[END_REF][START_REF] Fanti | Pozzetti, buche, piccole fosse, silos…" Le strutture in negativo neolitiche di piccole dimensioni: metodi di indagine e problemi interpretativi[END_REF][START_REF] Lugliè | The S2 structure in the household settlement of Su Mulinu Mannu-Terralba[END_REF], although their relative importance in Sardinian MN economy have to be assessed by archaeozoological analyses. Given our findings, the dissimilarity between MNB pottery contents and faunal record reflects specific behaviours and different technical and/or symbolic subsystems in the use of distinct kinds of resources (ruminant and plant foods vs. non-ruminant and marine products), with a differential integration of vessels in the activities aimed at processing, consuming and storing these products. The regional outlines and diachronic evolution of this differentiation in central-western Mediterranean deserve further investigation. Moreover, even if data on the function of different types of vessels during Neolithic in Europe are far to be systematically known, it seems that two diverging tendencies act on cooking habits, opposing sites in which cooking vessels have a broader morphological and morphometric variability [START_REF] Vieugué | Contribution méthodologique à l'analyse fonctionnelle des céramiques d'un habitat néolithique: l'exemple de Kovačevo (6200 -5500 av[END_REF][START_REF] Vuković | Beginnings -New Research in the Appearance of the Neolithic between Northwest Anatolia and the Carpathian Basin[END_REF] to sites with more "specialised" vessels for cooking [START_REF] Drieu | Defining pottery use and exploitation of natural products at Clairvaux XIV during the Middle Neolithic. Settling watery landscapes in Europe: archaeology of pile-settlements of Neolithic-Bronze Age[END_REF][START_REF] Salque | Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium BC in northern Europe[END_REF][START_REF] Šoberl | Neolithic and Eneolithic activities inferred from organic residue analysis of pottery from Mala Triglavca, Moverna vas and Ajdovska jama[END_REF]. The MNB cooking vessels from Sardinia seem to fit into this second tendency. Nevertheless, further research on the relationship among pottery morphologies, use-wear and contents is needed to outline this embryonic scenario. The behaviours linked to pottery use remain to be fully explored in a broader scale, by extending the use of integrated approaches on the analysis of Neolithic pottery from a more consistent number of sites in Mediterranean regions, with the purpose of identifying diachronic change or continuity and cultural affinities in the use of pottery among different Neolithic groups.

Fig. 1 :

 1 Fig. 1: Geographical and chronological overview on the context of this study: a, location of Middle Neolithic B sites in Central-western Sardinia, in relation with Monte Arci obsidian source: 1, Gribaia-Nurachi (OR); 2, Bau Angius-Terralba (OR); 3, San Ciriaco-Terralba (OR), eponym site of the MNB pottery; 4, Su Mulinu Mannu-Terralba (OR); 5, Su Forru de is Sinzurreddus-Pau (OR); b, chronology of Sardinian Neolithic[START_REF] Fanti | Pozzetti, buche, piccole fosse, silos…" Le strutture in negativo neolitiche di piccole dimensioni: metodi di indagine e problemi interpretativi[END_REF] Lugliè, 2014, in press;[START_REF] Sebis | Atti della XLIV Riunione Scientifica dell'Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria "La preistoria e la protostoria della Sardegna[END_REF].

Fig. 2 :

 2 Fig. 2: MNB sites: a, excavation of small pits at Gribaia-Nurachi (photo courtesy: A. Usai); b, pottery in situ at Bau Angius-Terralba (photo: C. Lugliè), c, Su Mulinu Mannu-Terralba, S2 structure (photo: C. Lugliè).

Fig. 3 :

 3 Fig. 3: Morphological and morphometric classification of MNB pottery from Bau Angius, Gribaia and Su Mulinu Mannu sites (adapted from Fanti, 2015). Drawings: L. Fanti.

Fig. 4 :

 4 Fig. 4: Use-wear on MNB vessels: soot on exterior surfaces of pots BANG204 (a) and BANG178 (c); details of the soot on the same vessels BANG204 (b) and BANG178 (d), photographed at binocular microscope (10x); abrasion of interior surfaces stopping near black patches/carbonised residues (indicated by arrows) on bottom of pots BANG204 (e) and NG-G20/06 (f). Photo: L. Fanti, C. Lugliè.

Fig. 5 :

 5 Fig. 5: Use-wear attritions on MNB vessels: scratches on interior surfaces of bowls BANG704 (a) and NG-G9/03 (b); and peripheral exterior base abrasion on sherd TMM2182 (c); peripheral to covering exterior base abrasion on vessel NG-G03/01 (d). Photo: L. Fanti.

Fig. 6 :

 6 Fig. 6: Partial high temperature gas chromatograms of total lipid extracts of MNB samples. Cn:0: saturated fatty acids with n carbon atoms; Cn:x unsaturated fatty acids with n carbon atoms; Ax: n-alkanes containing x carbon atoms; CxOH: mid-chain and long-chain alcohols containing x carbon atoms; MAG Cx: monoacylglycerol containing x carbon atoms; DAGs Dx: diacylglycerols containing x carbon atoms; TAGs Tx: triacylglycerols containing x carbon atoms; Kx: midchain secondary ketones containing x carbon atoms; IS: internal standard, C34 n-tetratriacontane; *: phtalates. Arrows indicate the position of sampling. Vessel drawings: L. Fanti.

Fig. 7 :

 7 Fig. 7: Triacylglycerols in total lipid extracts from Gribaia pottery vessels: a, Partial high temperature gas chromatograms of total lipid extracts of sample NG-G15/03b. Cn:0: saturated fatty acids with n carbon atoms; Cn:x unsaturated fatty acids with n carbon atoms; Ax: n-alkanes containing x carbon atoms; CxOH: mid-chain and long-chain alcohols containing x carbon atoms; MAG Cx: monoacylglycerol containing x carbon atoms; DAGs Dx: diacylglycerols containing x carbon atoms; TAGs Tx: triacylglycerols containing x carbon atoms; IS: internal standard, C34 ntetratriacontane; *: phtalates. Arrow shows the position of sampling; b), distributions of triacylglycerols in total lipid extracts from Gribaia pottery vessels. Letters between parentheses: A (animal fat), R (ruminant adipose fat), D

Fig. 8 :

 8 Fig. 8: Results of the GC-C-IRMS analysis of MNB pottery samples: a, δ 13 C values of the FAMEs of C16:0 and C18:0 prepared from lipid extracts from the three pottery assemblages; b, Δ 13 C values (= δ 13 C18:0δ 13 C16:0) of the extracts

Fig. 10 :

 10 Fig. 10: Functional categories identified in MNB pottery assemblages from Bau Angius, Gribaia and Su Mulinu Mannu sites by combining morphological, morphometric, use-wear, biomolecular and isotopic data. Vessel drawings and image processing: L. Fanti.

Table 1 :

 1 General assessment on MNB pottery assemblages investigated in this study.

	Site

Total n of vessels identified n of vessels with totally preserved profile n of vessels classified by morphometric analysis n of vessels studied by use-wear analysis n of vessels sampled for organic residues analysis Bau Angius

		89	25	43	59	23
	Gribaia	73	50	55	67	50
	Su Mulinu	36	1	21*	36	26
	Mannu
	Total	198	76	119	162	99
	*except volume calculation, due to incomplete profile
	3.2 Methods
	3.2.1 Morphological and morphometric analysis

Table 2 :

 2 Sampling for organic residues analysis (ECD: carbonised deposit on exterior surface ("soot"), ICD: carbonised deposit on interior surface, INCD: non-carbonised deposit on interior surface).

	Site	Total n of	Type of	n of samples	n of samples with	TLE μg/g	n of samples
		samples	sample*	analysed by GC-FID	TLE concentration	concentration	analysed by
				/ GC-MS	> 5 μg/g (%)	max	mean	GC-C-IRMS
	Bau Angius	31	30 sherds	31	9 sherds (36%)	2438	149	5
			1 ECD	(6: polluted)	0 ECD
	Gribaia	68	60 sherds	68	13 sherds (20%)	21	4	8
			4 ECD	(4: polluted)	0 ECD
			4 ICD		0 ICD
	Su Mulinu	29	26 sherds	29	5 sherds (18%)	65	6	3
	Mannu		1 ICD	(2: polluted)	0 ICD
			2 INCD		0 INCD
	Total	128	116 Sherds	128	27 sherds (23%)	2438	53	16
			5 ECD	(12: polluted)	0 ECD
			5 ICD		0 ICD
			2 INCD		0 INCD

Table 3 -

 3 Synopsis of vessel content in the samples from the three sites, on the basis of biomolecular and isotopic results.

	Site	Dairy	Dairy fat	Ruminant	Ruminant	Animal	Animal fat	Plant residue	Unassigned/	Total
		fat	+ plant	adipose	adipose	fat	+ plant		undetermined
			residue	fat	fat +		residue		fat
					plant
					residue
	Bau	4	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	9
	Angius
	Gribaia	3	1	1	2	2	1	2	1 (plant oil?)	13
	Su Mulinu	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	5
	Mannu
	Total	8	1	4	2	6	1	3	2	27

Volume is calculated from drawings of profiles, by dividing the area described by vessels walls in summed slices corresponding to geometric shapes -mainly cylinders and truncated cones-and by calculating geometric solid volume, then converting cc volume to liters[START_REF] Nelson | Reconstructing ceramic vessels and their systemic contexts[END_REF][START_REF] Vieugué | Contribution méthodologique à l'analyse fonctionnelle des céramiques d'un habitat néolithique: l'exemple de Kovačevo (6200 -5500 av[END_REF]

2008).

Acknowledgments

This work has been funded by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna to CL (research project CUP F71J11000700002, L.R.7/2007, bando 2010). We are also grateful to the "Mission de l'interdisciplinarité" of the CNRS which supported the BIOGEOCHIMPOT project headed by one of us (MR) that allows the funding of a part of the molecular and isotopic analyses of this research. We would like to thank Dr. Alessandro Usai (Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la città metropolitana di Cagliari e le province di Oristano e Sud Sardegna, Italy), who kindly provided access to the data from the Gribaia-Nurachi excavation. We express our sincere gratitude to two anonymous reviewers which provided valuable comments to improve this article.


Stéphanie Sorby

Creating

Creating a whale sanctuary in the Western Indian Ocean

  L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire

Crea&ng a whale sanctuary in the Western Indian Ocean

Between local norma-ve instruments and interna-onal coopera-on for a network governance (case study with the "Whale Route")

MC29

Stéphanie Sorby, Phd Candidate in Public Law stephanie.sorby@ird.fr

Whales are highly mobile animals, crossing the water and jurisdic&ons of mul&ple na&ons as well as areas beyond na&onal jurisdic&on. As a result, their conserva&on and management require associa&on between exis&ng ins&tu&ons and agreements at different level in order to enhance the consistency of the relevant law. As an emblema&c migratory species, whales are part of many interna&onal agreements at the universal and regional level. However, indirect impacts also imply to consider other legal frameworks. Therefore, the project of the "whale route" led by Reunion should take into account this complex legal environment. To develop regional coopera&on around this project, it is necessary to use current legal frameworks but above all to reveal links between them. These links may be considered from a top down approach (for example, implementa&on at the local level of mul&lateral agreements) but also from a boRom up dynamic (for example, replica&on of the whale watching charter applied to Reunion Island coastal area). Beside these norma&ve interac&ons, the governance of the "whale route" will necessarily have to be analysed from a global perspec&ve, emphasizing rela&onships between various actors, ins&tu&ons, and networks.

Conserva)on efforts for whales with the

•v

  Interna)onal Conven)on for the regula)on of Whaling (ICRW) Hard law: Global law: Indian Ocean Sanctuary, moratorium, Conven-on on Migratory Species, CITES, Straddling Stock Agreement • So\ law: Local law: Whale watching charter in Reunion, Cer-fica-on for responsible whale watching in Reunion (Label) The Whale Route governance fora Ø Interna&onal conven&on and interna&onal organiza&ons • The Nairobi Conven&on (1996) • The Indian Ocean Commission • UNESCO Ø Interna&onal associa&ons and transna&onal networks • Humpback Whale World Congress, Vanilla Islands, IndoCet… v Actors Ø Public actors • Southwest Indian Ocean States • Decentralized territories units: Regional council, Departmental council Ø Private actors For-profit actors: • Whale whatching companies Not-for-profit actors: • Experts, scien&sts, NGO: Cetamada, Globice, Abyss… v Reducing stress and disturbances • Sustainable marine ac&vi&es • Ecotourism, responsible whale-watching • Development of pedagogical ac&vi&es Extending the whale watching charter and the cer&fica&on to the Whale Route area v Reducing ship strikes risk • Educate regional communi&es • Collabora&on between mariners • Adjus&ng shipping traffic lanes • Whale repor&ng system v Reducing entanglement and bycatch • Modifying fishing gear in the Whale Route area Protec)on of whales in the Southwest Indian Ocean