A black, shiny coating overlies rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave no. 1, located in southeastern Idaho. If this coating is the result of human activity within the cave – a condensate from cooking fires, for example – then a radiocarbon date on the coating would provide a minimum age for the underlying paintings. The work reported here was undertaken to test the assumption that the coating has an anthropomorphic origin. Using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) and thermally-assisted hydrolysis/methylation-GC-MS, we have compared samples of the black coating from Idaho to humic acid, a geologic material; an experimental cooking residue; and amberat from packrats. The results show that the coating is not amberat but bears the most similarity to humic acid, which would indicate a geologic origin for the coating. The age of the coating, then, is not related to the age of the paintings.
","abstract_html":"<p>A black, shiny coating overlies rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave no. 1, located in southeastern Idaho. If this coating is the result of human activity within the cave – a condensate from cooking fires, for example – then a radiocarbon date on the coating would provide a minimum age for the underlying paintings. The work reported here was undertaken to test the assumption that the coating has an anthropomorphic origin. Using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) and thermally-assisted hydrolysis/methylation-GC-MS, we have compared samples of the black coating from Idaho to humic acid, a geologic material; an experimental cooking residue; and amberat from packrats. The results show that the coating is not amberat but bears the most similarity to humic acid, which would indicate a geologic origin for the coating. The age of the coating, then, is not related to the age of the paintings.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Fezzey, Sarah Therese"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Chemistry","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ruth Ann Armitage, Ph.D.","Heather Holmes, Ph.D.","Rosemary Brady"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2005-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:30Z","subjects":["Mass spectrometry","Gas chromatography","Chemical reactions","Pyrolysis","Cave paintings","Rock paintings Idaho Little Lost River Cave","Chemistry"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/115","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ruth Ann Armitage, Ph.D.","Heather Holmes, Ph.D.","Rosemary Brady"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Fezzey, Sarah Therese"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemistry"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Mass spectrometry","Gas chromatography","Chemical reactions","Pyrolysis","Cave paintings","Rock paintings Idaho Little Lost River Cave","Chemistry"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/115"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A black, shiny coating overlies rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave no. 1, located in southeastern Idaho. If this coating is the result of human activity within the cave – a condensate from cooking fires, for example – then a radiocarbon date on the coating would provide a minimum age for the underlying paintings. The work reported here was undertaken to test the assumption that the coating has an anthropomorphic origin. Using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) and thermally-assisted hydrolysis/methylation-GC-MS, we have compared samples of the black coating from Idaho to humic acid, a geologic material; an experimental cooking residue; and amberat from packrats. The results show that the coating is not amberat but bears the most similarity to humic acid, which would indicate a geologic origin for the coating. The age of the coating, then, is not related to the age of the paintings.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Characterization of black deposit associated with rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave, Idaho using Pyrolysis GC"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ruth Ann Armitage, Ph.D.","Heather Holmes, Ph.D.","Rosemary Brady"],"dc:creator":["Fezzey, Sarah Therese"],"dc:description.abstract":["A black, shiny coating overlies rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave no. 1, located in southeastern Idaho. If this coating is the result of human activity within the cave – a condensate from cooking fires, for example – then a radiocarbon date on the coating would provide a minimum age for the underlying paintings. The work reported here was undertaken to test the assumption that the coating has an anthropomorphic origin. Using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) and thermally-assisted hydrolysis/methylation-GC-MS, we have compared samples of the black coating from Idaho to humic acid, a geologic material; an experimental cooking residue; and amberat from packrats. The results show that the coating is not amberat but bears the most similarity to humic acid, which would indicate a geologic origin for the coating. The age of the coating, then, is not related to the age of the paintings.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/115"],"dc:subject":["Mass spectrometry","Gas chromatography","Chemical reactions","Pyrolysis","Cave paintings","Rock paintings Idaho Little Lost River Cave","Chemistry"],"dc:title":["Characterization of black deposit associated with rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave, Idaho using Pyrolysis GC"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemistry"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:30Z"}