prehistoric use of plants uncovered in eastern europe

orillia campus spring anthropology class to learn of results

inside the cave, kaiser and his colleagues found enormous quantities of beautifully painted pottery. the abundance of fine, handmade, elaborately painted plates and bowls suggested to the archaeologists that they were dealing with a ritual site of some kind.

but what kind? at closeby nakovana cave, also excavated by kaiser, the undisturbed remains of a ritual sanctuary were unmistakable. grapceva's remains were not so easily interpreted. more evidence was needed.

that evidence finally came to light this week, when the results of the analysis of soil samples arrived at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 - orillia campus. kaiser was intrigued to learn that seeds and microscopic plant remains in the cave's soil indicate the possibility of ritual and medicinal activities.

"this is a fantastic result for two reasons," said kaiser. "we know almost nothing about the prehistoric use of plants in this region. more importantly, although we know something about the use of plants for food, we know next to nothing about how plants were used in other ways."

testing revealed the presence of fragments of juniper berries and wild almonds. both of these plants are known to have been used for medicine or ritual. juniper's aromatic foliage and resins have often been used as incense. the oils of juniper are a traditional medicine acting as an antiseptic, diuretic, stimulant, and laxative.

"wild almonds are more problematic," kaiser indicated. "their intense bitterness comes from a toxin which becomes transformed into deadly hydrogen cyanide after crushing or chewing. in order for these nuts to be used - and they obviously were - the toxins had to be leached out." the resulting oils from wild almonds also have traditional medicinal uses.

the breakthrough came as a result of collaborations with scientists at boston university.
using a novel technique called fourier transform infrared spectrometry (ftir), dr. ksenija borojevic was able to identify the types of chemical bonds in a molecule by producing an infrared absorption spectrum that is like a "molecular fingerprint."

kaiser looks forward to continuing his research in this area using these results, and sharing them with his 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 in this spring's anthropology courses at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 - orillia campus.

"it's been a long wait for these results," kaiser said. "but it's been worth it. figuring out anything about prehistory is a real challenge, so anytime we learn something new it's a good day. today is a good day."

kaiser is teaching two courses in 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 - orillia campus' spring session in may and june: prehistoric art and introduction to anthropology.

to enrol in this and other spring offerings, please contact 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 - orillia campus at 705. 330-4008.

media: dr. tim kaiser may be reached for an interview at 705. 330-4033.

for further information on this release, please contact tom steadman, marketing manager, at 705. 330-4018.


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