Analysing ancient anaesthetic
Examination of surgical tools from a Ming Dynasty tomb reveals evidence of early anaesthetic use in 14th-century China.
organic residue analysis
Sacrificial scents
Analysis of two votive offering vessels from Pompeii is enhancing our understanding of Roman domestic rituals.
Cooking with the Vikings
Food plays an important role in cultural identity, and can be used in archaeology to identify patterns of migration and assimilation. The early medieval inhabitants of Scandinavia are known to have had a marine-focused diet, but the extent to which…
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Neolithic site uncovered in Sweden Archaeologists working in the Swedish village of Hammar have excavated the remains of a unique ceremonial site associated with the Funnel Beaker Culture. A large number of finds from the site, which is located on…
Dolia: The containers that made Rome an empire of wine
REVIEW BY EMLYN DODD The study of dolia, and indeed research more generally into ancient viti- and viniculture, has become increasingly popular in the past two decades. Cheung’s book fits neatly into this trajectory and complements other recent work on…
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Culinary traditions of central Europe A new study in Germany has analysed the fat residues in a collection of over 100 pottery vessels from various sites across Europe, all of which date to between 5450 and 1000 BC. The results…
Only UK example of Tyrian purple found in Carlisle
Testing on organic matter discovered by archaeologists from Wardell Armstrong has identified it as the first example of Tyrian purple pigment found not just in the UK, but in the whole of northern Europe. This exciting find was unearthed during…
Science Notes: Searching for seaweed consumption in the past
It has long been assumed that the advent of agricultural and pastoral practices during the Neolithic saw a major shift in human eating patterns, focusing more on a terrestrial diet than a marine-based one. Numerous isotopic analyses from across Europe…
The scent of eternity
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany have recreated the smell of the mummification balm used on the noblewoman Senetnay, wet nurse to Amenhotep II. The team used gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and other techniques to analyse…
Hallucinogens and body fluids
Analysis of the contents of a Ptolemaic Bes-shaped jug from the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida has revealed a complex concoction of fermented fruit, psychoactive plant-based substances, and human fluids that include breast milk, oral and vaginal fluids, and…
Analysis shines light on ingredients of mummification
Some of the ingredients, such as elemi and dammar resins, are thought to have been imported from the tropical forests of south-east Asia
First residue analysis of a medieval stone cresset conducted
As most cressets from Britain do not have any evidence of residue on them, it had previously been thought that they may have been used to hold ceramic lamps
Meat stews were on the menu in Mesopotamia, study finds
Analysis of Beveled Rim Bowls excavated from a Late Chalcolithic site in Iraq has challenged traditional interpretations that they were used for distributing cereal rations to state-dependent labourers.
Cereal consumption at Hebridean crannogs
Chemical analysis of pottery found in the waters surrounding crannogs in Scotland has revealed that cereals were cooked in pots and mixed with dairy products, and occasionally meat.
New study identifies world’s earliest evidence of opium use
The study sheds light on how the hallucinogenic drug was used in Late Bronze Age burial customs.
New study reveals Bronze Age daggers were not status symbols, but used for animal processing
New research finally answers the question of what Bronze Age daggers were used for, as Isabella Caricola and Andrea Dolfini reveal.
Excavating the Oxford Jewry
The dominance of skeletal fragments from domestic fowl, and the absence of pig specimens and species of fish other than herring, which is kosher, provides evidence that the inhabitants followed a Jewish diet.
Anglo-Saxon feasting finds?
Scientific analysis of some enigmatic burnt features found in several Anglo-Saxon settlements across the east of England has provided new insight into early medieval cooking practices.
Olives: oiling the wheels of civilisation
Olive trees thrive on poor soil where little else will grow, which means land that would otherwise be barren can produce food. This realisation triggered a true agricultural revolution – but when and where did it take place? Colin Renfrew and Evi Margaritis believe the clues were grown on Crete.
The Reigate Witch Bottle
How do you deal with a witch? In 17th century England, the answer was obvious: you prepare a ‘witch bottle’, with contents equally as bizarre as those in the cauldron of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. Witch bottles were white magic devices, that…