Under the auspices of the Smithsonian, the Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions has been digitizing and “databasing” the contents of ancient medical treatises for decades. Having done so, they were well positioned to help scholars understand the discovery of a lifetime: 2,000-year-old pills found in a shipwreck, the only ancient medicines ever discovered intact.
The Roman ship, excavated in Tuscany’s Bay of Baratti in the Eighties, contained a host of medical implements, including 136 boxwood vials and tin containers. One of the latter was recently found to contain pills and those pills were in tact, the metal having held the water off for over 20 centuries.
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Geneticist Robert Fleischer of the Smithsonian sequenced the DNA of several pill fragments, using the latest sequencing processes, while scientists at the Analytical Archaeology Laboratory of the Department of Antiquities studied the inorganic elements. The organic compounds identified included carrot, radish, parsley, celery, wild onion, cabbage, yarrow and hibiscus.
The Institute and its allied scientists were able to determine that every single ingredient had been referenced in the ancient texts as being medically useful. Their success was a direct result of the long process of digitization and sharing the Institute has pursed.
Although understanding our past is paramount to any archaeologist, it is not the sole goal of the Institute.
“Not only does this discovery validate ancient texts, but also it opens promising avenues for new scientific research and even innovative thinking in drug discovery.”
Increasingly, new technology helps us understand our past and the past, in conjunction with new technologies, help us define our future.
Gulf photo from Smithsonian | other sources: AOL News
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