Cropped version of image of a prosthetic toe from ancient Egypt, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The big toe is carved from wood and is attached to the foot by a sewn leather wrapping.
Posted on 03/09/2009 9:06:01 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Ancient garbage can be like gold to archaeologists. During excavation of an 800-year-old trash dump in Lyon, France, scientists discovered the archaeological equivalent of golden shoe soles: A trove of leather soles of shoes, which is helping scientists understand how leather stays preserved in wet, oxygen-free environments.
That knowledge could aid restoration of other leather artifacts, according to a report on analysis of the old soles scheduled for the current issue of ACS' semi-monthly journal Analytical Chemistry.
In the article, Michel Bardet and colleagues point out that leather consists of collagen, a tough protein that can remain intact hundreds of thousands of years under ideal conditions. The French soles were buried in mud in the absence of oxygen -- good conditions for preservation.
They used laboratory technology called nuclear magnetic resonance to compare composition of the ancient leather to modern leather. It turned out that tannin, which helps to preserve leather, had been washed out of the old soles and replaced by iron oxides. The iron oxides, which leached into the leather from surrounding soil, helped preserve the soles in the absence of tannins.
More information: Analytical Chemistry, "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance as Analytical Tools to Investigate Structural Features of Archeological Leathers"
(Excerpt) Read more at physorg.com ...
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Cincinna, this was found in France. |
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Ten or 15 years ago, I had a copy of Discover Magazine that had a wooden prosthetic large toe from ancient Egypt. It was attached to the foot with leather.
Don’t know where the magazine is, though. Buried in a plastic tub, I suppose. *sigh*
Cropped version of image of a prosthetic toe from ancient Egypt, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The big toe is carved from wood and is attached to the foot by a sewn leather wrapping.
Neil Young was right. Rust never sleeps.
I thought I had saved a pic of that... hmm... anyway... here’s what turned up in the hard drive search:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1081368.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,415074,00.html
Thanks, guys!
That’s really a fascinating article.
thanks JPB, here may be the very one Monkey Face remembers:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/07/27/gallery/faketoe_zoom.jpg
Out of the blue, and into the black...
...that’s also describes the current Democratic Party transformation...
The pics are, I’m sure, of the same toe/foot, but I seem to recall that it was more a lateral view, and only one shot...with the toe attached.
But it’s OK! I like the fact that the articles and photos are more detailed. Good work, Guys!! *hugs*
The pics are, I’m sure, of the same toe/foot, but I seem to recall that it was more a lateral view, and only one shot...with the toe attached.
But it’s OK! I like the fact that the articles and photos are more detailed. Good work, Guys!! *hugs*
*ugh*
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