Free and covalently bound lipid constituents of archaelogical ceramic vessels were analyzed. A sequential degradation scheme involving solvent extraction, alkaline saponification, and catalytic hydropyrolysis was used for recovering these lipids from the two archaelogical ceramic sherds. The stable carbon isotopic values of the major products released by the sequential degradation process were measured using gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). The co-existence of preserved aliphatic fatty acids and thermally-stable aromatic macromolecular phase within the same ceramic matrix indicated that the preserved lipid components were introduced into the the vessel after the formation of the bulk of the char.