Al-Khiday, located on the bank of the White Nile in Sudan, offers an exceptionally preserved stratigraphic sequence, providing a unique opportunity to use organic residue analysis to investigate diet and subsistence during the Khartoum Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic, a period of nearly 3500 years (7000–4500 cal BC). While the vast and diverse Mesolithic fish assemblage indicates a strong reliance on products from aquatic habitats, floodplains, vegetated marshes, and open water, results from the lipid residue analysis suggest that the fish were not cooked in ceramic pots, but consumed in other ways. Rather, pots were more specialized in processing plants, including wild grasses, leafy plants, and sedges. These results, confirmed by experimental analysis, provide, for the first time, direct chemical evidence for plant exploitation in the Khartoum Mesolithic. Non-ruminant fauna (e.g., warthog) and low lipid-yielding reptiles (e.g., Adanson’s mud turtle and Nile monitor lizard), found in significant numbers at al-Khiday, were likely also cooked in pots. There is little evidence for the processing of wild ruminants in the Mesolithic pots, suggesting either that ruminant species were not routinely hunted or that large wild fauna may have been cooked in different ways, possibly grilled over fires. These data suggest sophisticated economic strategies by sedentary people exploiting their ecological niche to the fullest. Pottery use changed considerably in the Early Neolithic, with ruminant products being more routinely processed in pots, and while the exploitation of domesticates cannot be confirmed by a small faunal assemblage, some dairying took place. The results provide valuable information on Early and Middle Holocene lifeways in central Sudan.

Al-Khiday 位于苏丹白尼罗河沿岸，提供了一个保存异常完好的地层序列，为使用有机残留物分析研究喀土穆中石器时代和新石器时代早期（近 3500 年）的饮食和生计提供了独特的机会年（公元前 7000-4500 年）。虽然中石器时代大量多样的鱼类组合表明对来自水生栖息地、洪泛区、植被沼泽和开阔水域的产品的强烈依赖，但脂质残留分析的结果表明，这些鱼不是在陶瓷锅中烹制的，而是以其他方式食用的。相反，花盆更专门用于加工厂，包括野草、多叶植物和莎草。这些结果经实验分析证实，首次提供，喀土穆中石器时代植物开发的直接化学证据。在 al-Khiday 大量发现的非反刍动物（如疣猪）和低脂类爬行动物（如 Adanson 的泥龟和尼罗巨蜥）可能也在锅中烹制。几乎没有证据表明在中石器时代的花盆中加工过野生反刍动物，这表明反刍动物物种没有被经常猎杀，或者大型野生动物可能以不同的方式烹制，可能是在火上烧烤。这些数据表明久坐不动的人充分利用其生态位的复杂经济策略。在新石器时代早期，陶器的使用发生了很大变化，反刍动物产品更经常地在罐中加工，虽然驯化动物的开发不能通过小型动物群落来证实，发生了一些奶制品。结果提供了有关苏丹中部全新世早期和中期生活方式的宝贵信息。