Posted on 08/17/2008 12:40:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Earliest evidence of tar used as waterproofing material was found in Veracruz and is more than 3,500 years old. Olmeca cultures that inhabited the Gulf of Mexico vicinity used it to protect soil, terracotta or wooden constructions, floor and wall covering, boat sealant, as well as glue.
Earliest remains of containers with tar are those recovered in the municipality of Hidalgotitlan, Veracruz, as part of El Manati archaeological project. Containers found by INAH archaeologists may have been used to heat up tar...
Contemporary inhabitants of the Gulf coast vicinity still use tar to flatten the entrance of their houses, patios, floors and highways, but mainly to fix boats, as their ancestors did more than two thousand years ago...
Tentative dating â before Carbon 14 tests results are known - based on analysis of typological figures and earthenware, reveal the occupation occurred between 500 BC and 900 AD, perhaps remaining until 1,200 AD.
New information based on these findings consolidates the hypothesis of this area being dwelled by several peoples. It was a great commercial port of the Gulf zone, as diversity of earthenware style materials reveal. Maya, Teotihuacana, Totonaca, Tuxteca and Remojadas cultures' ceramic items abound among regional styles.
(Excerpt) Read more at dti.inah.gob.mx ...
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Tar=hydrocarbons...that means they started global warming!
I think this somewhat breathless report fails to mention that oil is abundant in the Veracruz region and tar/asphaltum very likely occurred there naturally. I’m wondering which occurred first: the Olmec use of natural tar for boats, etc., or similar use by the Chumash Indians of California’s Central Coast. The Chumash were reportedly using natural tar from the Santa Barbara region on their boats and wicker baskets more than 5,000 years ago.
4,500 years ago bitumen was used in the Middle East as a glue, waterproofer, etc. (PMC 1692448) Pubmed bitumen use babylonia.
We primitives in Appalachia still use it to waterproof roofs, roads and masonry walls, and for making tar babies.
Didn’t Noah use it in the ark???????
Likely. I’ve studied data from the digs involving ancient boats, dugouts, etc. All used tar or pitch as a sealant. Many new wooden boats still do.
speaking of the Chumash...
Sharks and the Chumash:
Santa Barbara’s First People Relied Heavily on Our Finned Friends
Independent | Thursday, August 14, 2008 | Matt Kettmann
Posted on 08/17/2008 3:00:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2063428/posts
I wonder what kind of solvents the ancients used to clean that nasty stuff off their skin? They couldn’t buy paint thinner at Home Depot!
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