Chemical Modification of Biomarkers through Accelerated Degradation: Implications for Ancient Plant Identification in Archaeo-Organic Residues

Huber, Bárbara; Vassão, Daniel Giddings; Roberts, Patrick; Wang, Yiming V.; Larsen, Thomas

doi:10.3390/molecules27103331

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 53 publications

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“…The cedar oil or tar is the second most commonly detected product in the Saqqara vessels (19 vessels (54%)). Its presence is indicated by the predominance or the equivalence of low molecular weight sesquiterpenoids of the himachalene series over the characteristic diterpenes of the abietane family [22][23][24] (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Organic Residue Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

Rageot

Hussein

Beck

et al. 2023

Nature

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The ability of the ancient Egyptians to preserve the human body through embalming has not only fascinated people since antiquity, but also has always raised the question of how this outstanding chemical and ritual process was practically achieved. Here we integrate archaeological, philological and organic residue analyses, shedding new light on the practice and economy of embalming in ancient Egypt. We analysed the organic contents of 31 ceramic vessels recovered from a 26th Dynasty embalming workshop at Saqqara1,2. These vessels were labelled according to their content and/or use, enabling us to correlate organic substances with their Egyptian names and specific embalming practices. We identified specific mixtures of fragrant or antiseptic oils, tars and resins that were used to embalm the head and treat the wrappings using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses. Our study of the Saqqara workshop extends interpretations from a micro-level analysis highlighting the socio-economic status of a tomb owner3–7 to macro-level interpretations of the society. The identification of non-local organic substances enables the reconstruction of trade networks that provided ancient Egyptian embalmers with the substances required for mummification. This extensive demand for foreign products promoted trade both within the Mediterranean8–10 (for example, Pistacia and conifer by-products) and with tropical forest regions (for example, dammar and elemi). Additionally, we show that at Saqqara, antiu and sefet—well known from ancient texts and usually translated as ‘myrrh’ or ‘incense’11–13 and ‘a sacred oil’13,14—refer to a coniferous oils-or-tars-based mixture and an unguent with plant additives, respectively.

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Section: Organic Residue Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

Rageot

Hussein

Beck

et al. 2023

Nature

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A multidisciplinary investigation of a mummified Egyptian head and analysis of its associated resinous material from the Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo (Sicily)

Squires,

Davidson,

Cooper

et al. 2024

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Identifying Palaeolithic birch tar production techniques: challenges from an experimental biomolecular approach

Kozowyk,

Baron,

Langejans

2023

Sci Rep

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The intentional production of birch bark tar by European Neanderthals as early as 190,000 years ago plays an important role in discussions about the technological and behavioural complexity of Pleistocene hominins. However, research is hampered because it is currently unknown how Neanderthals were producing birch tar. There are several different techniques that could have been employed, but these differ in their apparent production complexity, time and resource efficiency. Identifying production processes in the archaeological record is therefore paramount for furthering research on the technical behavioural repertoire. Organic biomarkers, identified with Gas Chromatograph–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS), have been used to identify possible production processes during the Neolithic. Here we test whether these biomarkers can also distinguish Palaeolithic (aceramic) tar production methods. We produced tar using five different methods and analysed their biomolecular composition with GC–MS. Our results show that the biomarkers used to distinguish Neolithic tar production strategies using ceramic technology cannot be reliably used to identify tar production processes using aceramic Palaeolithic techniques. More experimentation is required to produce a larger reference library of different tars for future comparisons. To achieve this, complete GC–MS datasets must also be made publicly available, as we have done with our data.

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Chemical Modification of Biomarkers through Accelerated Degradation: Implications for Ancient Plant Identification in Archaeo-Organic Residues

Cited by 4 publications

References 53 publications

Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

A multidisciplinary investigation of a mummified Egyptian head and analysis of its associated resinous material from the Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo (Sicily)

Identifying Palaeolithic birch tar production techniques: challenges from an experimental biomolecular approach

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