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Archaeological Chemistry
Archaeological Chemistry, especially
the analysis of ancient organic remains or Biomolecular Archaeology,
has come of age in the last twenty years. Ancient foods, perfumes,
dyes, and other organics, which could only be imagined from ancient
writings, can now be detected and characterized by applying highly
sensitive chemical techniques. Archaeological Chemistry promises
to open up whole new chapters relating to our human ancestry and
genetic development, cuisine, medical practice, and other crafts
over the past two million years.
Penn Museum's Archaeological Chemistry laboratory has been at the forefront
of these developments. Beginning with the chemical identification
of the earliest Royal Purple, the famous dye of the Phoenicians,
the laboratory has gone on to develop techniques for identifying
fermented beverages, including the earliest grape wine, the earliest
barley beer, and "grogs" made of wine, beer, and honey mead. Examples
of the latter beverage have now been identified chemically, in ancient
drinking vessels recovered from the "Midas Tumulus" at the 8th century
BCE capital of the Phrygians in central Turkey, and from sites
along Yellow River of China dating as early as 7000 BCE.
Progress in Archaeological Chemistry is being made elsewhere, especially
in the universities of Britain and the government-funded museum
laboratories of continental Europe. The focus of research there
has been on identification of tree resins and lipids (e.g., beeswax
and those found in milk products), isotopic studies of foods, and
DNA investigation of humans and other organisms. Our program is
playing a crucial role in advancing this field in the United States
and around the world. For example, using a combined chemical/DNA
approach, we are clarifying when and where the Eurasian grape (Vitis
vinifera)-the source of 99% of modern wine-was domesticated;
and how a Near Eastern "wine culture" emerged around 6000 BCE and
spread around the world in subsequent millennia.
As one example of this combined approach, research was carried out
on the pottery fabrics and residues inside jars stockpiled in a
tomb at Abydos in Egypt, and belonging to one of the first kings
of Egypt, Scorpion I (circa 3150 BCE). According to Neutron
Activation Analysis, the jars had been manufactured in an area of
the southern Levant, extending from the coastal area of Gaza across
the Hill Country to the Jordan Valley and Transjordan. Assuming
that the contents of the jars were produced in the same region,
it appears likely that thousands of liters of resinated wine were
transported about 700 kilometers by donkey and ship to Abydos. DNA
analysis showed that the wine had been fermented with a precursor
of the "wine yeast," Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Importation
of wine laid the foundation for the royal winemaking industry in
the Nile Delta beginning around 3000 BCE.
Similarly, our investigation of early Chinese fermented beverages
indicates that a "rice wine culture" was established there in the
early Neolithic period (circa 7000–6000 BCE) and had equally
far-reaching consequences.
email: Patrick E. McGovern
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