What 'Lola' spat

Birch Pitch     (Photo by Jorre)

Since Wrigley’s wasn’t around until thousands of years later, Neolithic “Lola” chewed birch pitch instead.

Made from heated bark, birch tar had long “been used to fasten stone blades to handles.” Prehistoric Europeans would routinely chew pitch in order to soften it up for use.

This prototype gum also had antiseptic qualities.  Nevertheless, Lola’s DNA (which scientists had extracted from spittle within        a wad of ancient pitch) was fraught with microbes such as Streptococcus pneumoniae.  

Lola's oral microbiome also showed bits of mallard and hazelnut DNA, indicating that she had dined upon these foods.  It’s pretty amazing (and somewhat intrusive) that “ancient blobs" of tar can reveal personal histories to that extent..

Resources

https://www.bing.com/search?q=Stone+age+chewing+gum&filters=tnTID%3a%224E2FE2AD-55F5-4aff-A807-773EDF832482%22+tnVersion%3a%223310071%22+segment%3a%22popularnow.carousel%22+tnCol%3a%2214%22+tnOrder%3a%2245a39134-8763-4752-9cf4-6e0aea9a0d28%22&FORM=BSPN01&crslsl=2268&efirst=15

Copyright December 18, 2019 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved