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Characterization of ancient food remains could reflect how people exploited biological resources and interacted with different cultures in antiquity. In this study, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), starch grain, phytolith, stable isotope analysis and proteomics were adopted to characterize the composition of the food remains including three cereal foodstuffs, some meat strips and a kebab discovered at the Changle Cemetery (202 BCE–220 CE), Ningxia, northwest China, a key area on the Silk Road. The results show that the cereal foods were baked cakes, primarily made from foxtail millet (Setaria italica). One cake was simply made of millet grains, the others were more elaborately comprised of millet flour with the addition of barley flour and meat from cattle (Bos taurus) and chicken (Gallus gallus). These findings indicate that grinding and baking technologies, which were considered as the culinary tradition in western Eurasia, had been adopted at the latest by the inhabitants in Ningxia region at that time. The large-scale migration from central China to Ningxia and the opening up of the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty gave rise to the diet communication and assimilation in this border area. Moreover, the meat strips were identified as dried beef, and the kebab was likely to be made from sheep/goat meat, wherein the latter is the earliest scientific evidence of mutton kebab in ancient China up to our knowledge. The analytical strategy could be widely applied in characterizing ancient visible food remains in order to better understand their preparation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Non-destructive approach including GC/MS, FTIR and SR-μCT has been performed to identify an ancient jet artifact. • There exists difference in the FTIR spectra of jet around the world. • The use of jet by lower status officials is related to the first large-scale exploitation of coal in the Western Han Dynasty. Some bright black beads with dense surface and poor light transmittance are generally considered as jet artifacts in China. However, little scientific investigation has been applied to support this judgment. This study focuses on the nondestructive identification of a jet bead, unearthed from the Changle Cemetery, Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), Ningxia, China through multi nondestructive approach. The results of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis indicate that the bead belongs to coal products, based on the typical coal biomarkers including n -alkanes, acyclic isoprenoids and terpenoids. FTIR analysis further confirms that the bead is made of jet in comparison with modern jet samples in China. The bead is also scanned with Synchrotron Radiation Micro-computed Tomography (SR-μCT) to obtain the structure and drilling technology information, which suggests that the bead is uniform and was drilled from both sides. The nondestructive identification of ancient jet artifacts is first reported in China up to date, which not only reveals the varied utilizations of coal products in ancient society but also suggests that the popularization of jet in the Han Dynasty might be related to the first large-scale exploitation of coal, and offers an effective method suitable for archaeological jet samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]