Posted on 07/19/2012 9:56:13 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A team of researchers has provided the first molecular evidence that Neanderthals not only ate a range of cooked plant foods, but also understood their nutritional and medicinal qualities...
The researchers, led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the University of York, combined pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry with morphological analysis of plant microfossils to identify material trapped in dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) from five Neanderthals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón.
Their results provide another twist to the story -- the first molecular evidence for medicinal plants being used by a Neanderthal individual.
According to a prepared statement by the researchers, starch granules and carbohydrate markers in the samples, plus evidence for plant compounds such as azulenes and coumarins, as well as possible evidence for nuts, grasses and even green vegetables, argue for a broader use of ingested plants than is often suggested by stable isotope analysis...
Earlier research had shown that the Neanderthals in El Sidrón had the bitter taste perception gene, evidence of which had been found trapped within dental calculus...
A total of ten samples of dental calculus from five Neanderthals were selected for this study. The researchers used thermal desorption and pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify both free/unbound and bound/polymeric organic components in the dental calculus. By using this method in conjunction with the extraction and analysis of plant microfossils, they found chemical evidence consistent with wood-fire smoke, a range of cooked starchy foods, two plants known today for their medicinal qualities, and bitumen or oil shale trapped in the dental calculus.
(Excerpt) Read more at redorbit.com ...
“How many of us know how to make aspirin? “
Willow bark tea.
Did you know that these churches were carved by the Knights Templar?
I can't say I'm an expert on it, but I did attempt to sort the wheat from the chaff, and the general consensus is that It was not the Knights Templar.
Due to the nature of the 'design', I have trouble figuring out just who did 'design' these churches. According to the 'story', the King went to heaven and saw these churches , then came back and duplicated them. I don't know if he flew to heaven on a horse, but it seems that these stories (mohammed, Jesus, King of Ethiopia) end up involving a horse. Makes me think there is something in common , to these stories, and it really isn't a horse.
OK, DOC, you make a grand total of 'one', so far.
“DOC, you make a grand total of ‘one’, so far.”
I have a “Western” doc, and a Chinese herb doc! But I can’t remember when I heard about willow bark. It was many, many years ago.
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