2023-08-29 17:38:59
August 29, 2023
Baghdad / Obelisk Al-Hadath: Researchers were able for the first time to extract parts of the DNA of 34 species of plants from the ancient mud bricks that were used in building the palace of an ancient Assyrian king dating back 2900 years, built on the shores of the Tigris.
When these bricks were manufactured about 2,900 years ago in what is now northern Iraq, the process involved mixing clay from the banks of the Tigris River with materials such as chaff, straw, or animal dung, which is known as mud brick.
Tiny plant particles amidst animal waste and straw can remain sheltered within those bricks for thousands of years, as has now been demonstrated by a team from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and the National Museum and University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
The researchers used a technique previously used to analyze porous materials.
After extracting a sample from the bricks, the researchers used an analytical technique previously used on other forms of porous materials, such as bone. This enabled them to decipher the DNA of the plant material used in the adobe, and to identify 34 distinct taxonomic groups of plants. The researchers published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
“We were thrilled to discover that ancient DNA, effectively protected from contamination within a block of clay, could be successfully extracted from a 2,900-year-old brick,” says biologist Sophie Lund Rasmussen of the University of Oxford in the university’s press release on August 22. general.
The bricks analyzed in this study were found in the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II located in the ancient city of Kalhu, and scientists were able to date it to some time between 879 and 869 BC through an inscription in the clay that specifically mentions the palace.
The plant species that the bricks contained and whose DNA was determined included several plant species, such as the Brassica (cabbage and mustard family) and heather (heather), while the genetic material was from Betolacia (birch), Laurasia (laurel), and Selenia (the family containing On carrots and parsley), and wheatgrass (cultivated herbs) were also present.
Assyriologist Troels Arbol, of the University of Copenhagen, says: The bricks act as a biodiversity time capsule containing information regarding a single site and its surroundings, and in this case, it provides researchers with unique access to the ancient Assyrians.
The team focused on plant DNA because it was the most well-preserved, but the same techniques could be used to search for animal DNA as well.
Clay bricks have been found at a range of archaeological sites around the world, and have the potential to reveal all kinds of new information about the ecosystems and environments in which they were made.
In this case, the fact that the clay bricks were left to dry naturally rather than fired helped preserve their organic contents, as did sampling from the middle of the bricks where the material was well protected.
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