Burned grains hold clues to ancient farms [Assiros Toumba in Greece]

Planet Earth online ^ | 26 June 2009 | Natural Environment Research Council

[SunkenCiv]

The granary at Assiros Toumba in Greece burnt to the ground around 1300 BC, during the Bronze Age, together with large quantities of grain stored in clay bins and jars. It was a large facility and the fire was 'undoubtedly a catastrophic accident for the people whose grain was stored there,' says Professor Glynis Jones, an archaeologist from the University of Sheffield. The reasons for the fire are unknown - it could have been accidental or may have happened in the aftermath of an earthquake, Jones suggests. But there is no solid evidence to support either theory... The exact proportion of 13C and 12C in plants depends on the environment, amount of water available and climate and can be used to learn more about past environments. Stable carbon isotopes are a powerful tool... But to draw conclusions about past environments it's not enough to measure old 13C/12C ratios... The team measured the carbon isotope ratio of the charred wheat from Assiros Toumba and recent wheat grains from different locations. The modern samples were harvested from areas where environmental variables are well known... The analyses of the old wheat grains show that the carbon isotope ratios are very similar and the differences are within the natural variations observed in a single modern wheat field. The lack of variation suggests that all the wheat in Assiros Toumba comes from a single year's harvest gathered over a small area, write the authors in the report published this week in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The ancient carbon isotope ratios also suggest that the Assiros Toumba wheat grew with plenty of water.

[SunkenCiv]

Variations in the 13C/12C ratios of modern wheat grain, and implications for interpreting data from Bronze Age Assiros Toumba, Greece
Tim H.E. Heaton, Glynis Jones, Paul Halstead, Taxiarchis Tsipropoulos
Journal of Archaeological Science

[SunkenCiv]

How chemistry can reveal the secrets of ancient worlds
University of Bristol
issued June 30, 2009

Richard Evershed, Professor of Biogeochemistry at the University, said: "While the archaeological record is extraordinarily incomplete, by combining molecular, isotopic and archaeological information we can build up pictures of how people lived in a way that was impossible until now. We use the latest analytical chemical techniques in a forensic approach because of the thousands of years that have passed since the evidence was left behind."

The latest state-of-the-art analytical chemical techniques are required to reveal and identify the invisible ancient molecules 'biomarkers' which are then matched to modern reference materials. These molecular and isotopic 'fingerprints' can be used to trace human activities, adding important new pieces to the jigsaw puzzle of past life on Earth.

One of the major challenges the scientists have taken on is the study of organic residues preserved in ancient cooking pots. Degraded animal fats left over from food processing are the most common residues detected. Professor Evershed's group were able to distinguish the chemical and isotopic signatures of milk and body fats of animals.

Professor Evershed continued: "Identifying the milking of animals based on fat residues in Neolithic pottery dating back nearly 9,000 years shows the specificity that can be achieved through these molecular and isotopic approaches."

[SunkenCiv]

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[Grizzled Bear]

I singe grain in preparation for beer making. Maybe they were getting ready for a kegger.

[Fred Nerks]

ASSIROS

Crops stored in the granaries at Assiros included several types of wheat and two of barley, as well as millet, bitter vetch and lentils. Study of the genetic composition of some of the wheat samples shows that it is suitable for bread making - the earliest of this type discovered so far.

WHEAT STORED IN THE EAR AND PRESERVED BY CHARRING

The granaries found at Assiros in Phase 9 are a unique discovery in the prehistoric Aegean. The devastating fire which overwhelmed the site around 1300 BC preserved details of the storage containers - large baskets, pithoi and clay bins - as well as hundreds of kilogrammes of charred seeds of wheat, barley and other crops. One of the rooms measured 9 x 4 metres and is estimated to have contained about 18 m3 of stored crops.

[NYer]

Think you will find this interesting, ping!

[Kolokotronis]

Burned wheat; reminds me of the time one of the old ladies at church forgot the wheat as it was boiling for koliva. The water boiled away and the wheat burned black!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koliva

[SunkenCiv]

Good suggestion.

Grog of the Greeks [ barley beer, honey mead, retsina wine ]
New Scientist | November 27, 1999 | Stephanie Pain
Posted on 10/20/2008 5:05:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2110692/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1945781/posts?page=14#14