Research into some sticky residue found in 2,500-year-old bronze jars from southern Italy has finally provided clarity on a long-standing debate in archaeology. It turns out, the residue is honey—likely remnants of offerings to an ancient deity.
A collaborative effort between chemists and archaeologists utilized advanced analysis methods to examine the paste-like material. They determined that these jars, unearthed in the sixth-century B.C. city of Paestum, originally contained honeycomb.
“It’s fascinating that ancient Greeks regarded honey as a superfood,” noted Luciana da Costa Carvalho, a chemist at the University of Oxford, in a video commentary. The findings were shared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Honey had significant cultural importance in both ancient Greek and Roman societies, being widely used in medicine, rituals, and even cosmetics. When the jars were discovered in an underground shrine in 1954, archaeologists suspected they contained honey as a symbol of immortality. However, despite several attempts over the decades to confirm this, no sugar evidence had been identified.
But Carvalho and her team took another look, leveraging recent advancements in chemical analysis to explore the origins of this mysterious substance once more.
Using a method called mass spectrometry, which detects different molecules, they identified intact hexose sugars in the jar residue for the first time. This is noteworthy because fresh honey is primarily made up of hexose sugars, with fructose being the most prevalent.
The researchers also noted proteins in the sample, indicating the presence of royal jelly, which is a milky substance produced by worker bees. They even uncovered peptides, which are shorter chains of amino acids, that specifically originate from the European honeybee (Apis mellifera).
Combining these findings, the study provides the first direct molecular evidence to confirm that honey was indeed present, likely served in honeycomb form.
Interestingly, Carvalho mentioned, “The amount of sugar in the ancient residue is significantly lower than what we find in modern honey.” She speculated that the taste might resemble washed honeycomb, albeit with a slightly more acidic note, though she, of course, has not actually tasted it.
Furthermore, the analysis revealed copper ions in the mixture, which are known to kill microorganisms. Carvalho explained that this could have aided in preserving the sugars in the residue, helping explain how it lasted so long without degrading.
This research offers insights into ancient rituals and how they were conducted at such shrines. The jars were part of an underground shrine, known as a heroon, at Paestum, which included a sizable wooden table adorned with wool-wrapped iron rods.
The offering might have been made to Is of Helice, who is considered the mythical founder of the ancient Greek city of Sybaris. Following the city’s destruction in the sixth century B.C., its residents established the city of Poseidonia, which was later named Paestum by the Romans in the third century B.C.
Carvalho concluded that the study underscores the importance of revisiting museum collections, as continuous advancements in analytical techniques can yield new insights.
