100-Year Old Miniature Watch Found In A Tomb Over 400 Years Old

This is a bit of an old story, but an interesting one nevertheless. In 2009, a miniature ring in the shape of a Swiss watch was found in a tomb Shangsi, Southern China - sealed over 400 years ago in the Ming Dynasty.

During this Dynasty, 'flashy items' were banned, so being buried with a ring/watch like this makes sense as it is a practical item. The fact that it's very small also makes sense; there are many examples in Egyptian tombs where people are buried with items that are very small etc. - it is idea that they 'come alive' and become their real size in the afterlife. The fact that they are made very small was probably to make enough room in the tomb for many other items.

So being buried with a watch makes sense. But being buried with a miniature watch with the letters "Swiss" written on in English on the back of it during this period is a bit strange.

(c) Lunatic Outpost

So what do you think? The Doctor? A practical joke by previous visitors? Or some horrendous advertising scheme?

You can read more about it here.

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A Missing Link?

Earlier this month, National Geographic published a very interesting article on evidence of a possible new human ancestor. The evidence in form of a bone was found in the Denisova Cave, southern Siberia, by the Russian archaeologist, Alexander Tsybankov, in 2008. However, it wasn't until a few years later when it was discovered how significant the bone fragment actually was. The article is well written and I doubt I will be able to do it better myself, so please have a read through! This story really reminded me that it is because of moments like these I chose to do archaeology as a profession.

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By: Robert Clark
Source: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/125-missing-human-ancestor/shreeve-text

Ancient Beer...UPDATE

As announced in the news this week, the Great Lakes Brewing Company (based in Ohio) are recreating a beer based on the Hymn to Ninkasi - a song written by Sumerians c.1,800BC dedicated to the goddess of beer, Ninkasi - using the authentic techniques they would have used thousands of years ago. They have said that they do not plan to sell the beer, but it is possible they'll set up educational events where people will have a chance to sample the beer and learn how it was made.

(c) Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Cardamom and coriander were first used in the beer, but it was found to be too sour, and so next time round it will be sweetened with honey and/or dates. The brewery have been working for over a year with the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, but for the past few months they have been experimenting with brewing the beer for the last few months. Keep an eye out on this blog for updates on how they get on!

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I have also just discovered that Anchor Brewing (based in San Francisco) also created a beer based on the Hymn to Ninkasi in the 1989 - they called it...Ninkasi! The hymn, translated in 1964 by Professor Miguel Civil, talks about using "beerbread", "earth-covered malt" and "honey and wine".

(c) Twitgoo.

The beer was 3.5% vol., was very dry and bitter; the taste was apparently very similar to hard apple cider. It did not keep very well, and I believe it was only a limited edition beer.

Ancient Diseases and Their Evidence in the Skeleton

After the recent discovery of the oldest tumour ever found in the rib of a Neanderthal, I have been inspired by it to do a blog post about diseases in archaeology that can be found in the bones that remain. This is what I'm hoping to write my Masters dissertation on, so here is a quick run-through of diseases that have been found in the archaeological record:

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-Tuberculosis (TB): this is a fairly common, infectious disease, that is usually caused by breathing in a strain of bacteria called mycobacteria; which can also cause leprosy. The disease affects the lungs, and therefore symptoms include coughing, fever, weight loss and coughing up blood. Today, TB can be diagnosed by x-rays, and although antibiotics can be used to treat the disease, tuberculosis can cause death.

The disease has been noted to be one of the oldest diseases, as it has been found in skeletons from Neolithic Mediterranean and Ancient Egypt...many times. It was even thought that Nefertiti and her husband Akhenaten died of TB. Evidence of TB has also been noted in various ancient writings; Hippocrates wrote about phthisis during the 4th century BC, describing tuberculosis-type symptoms; the Sushruta Samhita (a Sanskript medical text written in India c. 400-200BC) notes a treatment for tuberculosis; and the Ebers Papyrus (an Egyptian medical text written c.1550BC) mentions tuberculosis and its treatments.

In the flesh, the symptoms of TB are not that easy to spot: the sufferer may be sweaty, they will look thinner due to the weight loss and loss of appetite, they will look exhausted, but also they might have a swollen neck of sorts (due to possible enlarged lymph nodes). 

TB usually mainly affects the lungs, but if it spreads to the bones, it can affect the spine, ribs and/or long bones...

Tuberculosis of the spine causing the collapse and fusion of several thoracic vertebrae.
(c) Mutter Museum

Rib of an adolescant female from St George's Crypt, Leeds; the signs of TB are shown in the boxes.
(c) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA

Last year, Professor Terry Brown and Professor Charlotte Roberts conducted a study together that aimed to identify tuberculosis in skeletons easier; focusing on a 19th century skeletons, but using it as part of a wider study for TB skeletons from 100AD-the late 19th century. Using the bones, they looked at the DNA sequence of bones and found that there were specific gene sequences in TB skeletons; this technique might possibly be used in future tuberculosis studies, and it makes identifying the disease a lot quicker. 

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-Osteoarthritis: this is an extremely common, degenerative joint disease that degrades the bones and consequently can cause joint pain, stiffness of the joints, joint locking and possible effusion (extra fluids around the joint). It is generally prevalent in older people, but can occur in anyone, depending on the quality of the bone and any injuries that might have been suffered. As it is a degenerative disease, there is nothing that can be done to get rid of it. However, there are treatments that may help: a change in lifestyle, painkillers or even a complete joint replacement. 

Arthritis in general is technically older than tuberculosis - but not in humans - there has been evidence of secondary arthritis in dinosaurs! However, the earliest evidence of arthritis in humans is from a 60,000 year old man from France, named The Old Man of La Chapelle. Later examples include 4,500BC North America and Otzi the Iceman from c.3,255BC Austria/Italy. 

It is prevalent in the archaeology, and therefore is fairly easy to identify in the bones; as a bone-based disease, most if not all, of the consequences of arthritis can be identified on skeletons. The following pictures show that arthritis can completely destroy cartilage (1), can cause extra growth of bone over the joint (osteophyte growth) and eburnation (where the bone changes so it looks 'shiny') (2).

1. Osteoarthritis of the knee from a Middle Saxon cemetary in Norfolk.
(c) Spoilheap Archaeology

2. Hip joints of a 45-year old male, showing osteophyte growths and eburnation.
(c) College of Charleston

There is also evidence in the archaeology of treating arthritis; most famously, the tattoos Otzi had over his various joints that were thought to be a form of acupuncture to treat arthritis.

 

Some of 50+ tattoos found on Otzi.
(c) Rose City Acupuncture.

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-Leprosy: this is a chronic, infectious disease that is caused by the bacteria, mycobaterium leprae. It affects part of the nervous system, as well as the muscuous membrane, which leads to the various painful lumps and lesions on the face. It can also cause severe infections or numbness in body parts, which as a result sometimes have to be amputated or taken off.
Today, there are treatments available to get rid of leprosy - various "leprosatic agents" are available to be taken daily until the leprosy has disappeared. 

Leprosy is also an ancient disease; the first evidence of it in a skeleton is from c.2000BC in India, and the first evidence in text is around c.1500BC in the Ebers Papyrus from Egypt. Previous to finding the skeleton from India, it was thought that a man from the Tomb of the Shroud in Jersualem (1-50BCE) was the earliest case of leprosy.

1. Top: a normal person's foot; bottom: a leper's foot.
(c) The Naked Scientists

As mentioned, leprosy mainly causes skin lesions and affects the nervous system; however, surprisingly there is not a lot of evidence in the skeleton that shows the person had leprosy. If someone has had leprosy for a very long period of time - say 20 years or so - then there may be evidence of the shortening of digits on the hands or feet (1); destruction of areas of the face such as the nose (2 & 3); loss of teeth (3) or loss or erosion of any body part (4).

2. The skull of a leper from 4,000 years ago, India.
(c) Live Science

It should be noted though that these symptoms can also show tuberculosis - however the more of the above symptoms are found in the skeleton, the more likely it is that it is leprosy instead of tuberculosis.

A recent study has found that by studying the lepers from the Medieval period, the reason leprosy isn't so common in the world anymore (in Medieval Europe, 1 in 30 people had leprosy) is because we as humans have changed, not the disease. It has been noted that this study could be useful in solving clues about TB, syphilis and the bubonic plague.

3. Destruction of the top row of teeth and part of
nose due to leprosy.
(c) Bones Don't Lie.

4. Feet from a leper c.1250-1500, Netherlands.
(c) sciencemuseum.org

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That's all for now, there are many more diseases that have ancient origins, and can be evident in the skeleton - cholera, typhoid, smallpox, rabies, malaria etc. - however I fear if I write about any more diseases, I may never stop.
Please see below for some further reading; The Archaeology of Disease is a must if you wish to know more about disease in the archaeological record, it's a fantastic book.


Further Reading:
- The Archaeology of Disease - Charlotte A. Roberts & Keith Manchester - 2010
- The Bioarchaeology of Metabolic Bone Disease - Megan Brickley & Rachel Ives - 2008
- Disease in London, 1st-19th Centuries: An Illustrated Guide to Diagnosis - Don Walker - 2012
- Mummies, Disease and Ancient Diseases - Thomas A. Cockburn et al - 1998
- Bones Don't Lie blog post on tuberculosis


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