The British Geological Survey has just released a new interactive web tool that maps out the geographical variation in the isotope signatures of Britain.
This map, which includes strontium, oxygen and sulphur data, enables the determination of the…
Category: 6. Chemistry
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Italy’s oldest olive oil discovered in peculiar pot
Olive oil is a staple of Italian cuisine. It’s been that way for thousands of years. And new chemical analysis conducted on ancient pottery proves the liquid gold has existed in Italy hundreds of years longer than what anthropologists have…
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Earliest European evidence of lead pollution uncovered in the Balkans
New research from Northumbria University has revealed that metal-related pollution began in the Balkans more than 500 years before it appeared in western Europe, and persisted throughout the Dark Ages and Medieval Period, meaning the region…
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Geologists assist in solving the mystery of a gold treasure
The Carambolo Treasure is an assemblage of gold items of the first millennium BCE, whose origin has for about 50 years been the epicentre of a heated debate.
New chemical and isotopic analyses, carried out by the UPV/EHU’s Geochronology and…
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Experiment sheds new light on prehistoric ocean conditions
A new experiment by Iowa State University’s Elizabeth Swanner that evaluates the reduction of iron in prehistoric oceans may reinterpret the conditions under which iron-rich sedimentary rock is formed.
Swanner, an assistant professor of…
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Prehistoric bling? Aesthetics crucial factor in development of earliest copper alloys
Research into ancient gold metallurgy has been supported by various studies, however, colour properties of prehistoric copper alloys such as arsenical copper and tin have remained largely understood.
A new study by an internatinal team of UK and…
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Poisonings went hand in hand with the drinking water in Pompeii
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced water supply. But the drinking water in the pipelines was probably poisoned on a scale that may have led to daily problems with vomiting, diarrhoea, and liver and kidney damage. This is the…
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