Ingredients of a 2,000-y-old medicine revealed by chemical, mineralogical, and botanical investigations.

ABSTRACT: In archaeology, the discovery of ancient medicines is very rare, as is knowledge of their chemical composition. In this paper we present results combining chemical, mineralogical, and botanical investigations on the well-preserved contents of a tin pyxis discovered onboard the Pozzino shipwreck (second century B.C.). The contents consist of six flat, gray, discoid tablets that represent direct evidence of an ancient medicinal preparation. The data revealed extraordinary information on the composition of the tablets and on their possible therapeutic use. Hydrozincite and smithsonite were by far the most abundant ingredients of the Pozzino tablets, along with starch, animal and plant lipids, and pine resin. The composition and the form of the Pozzino tablets seem to indicate that they were u

SUBMITTER: Giachi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3557061 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature