“If we see wine, it’s with juniper, sage, or thyme mixed in with grape. That doesn’t sound like the kind of wine served at a symposium,’’ said Foley, who studies shipwreck remains to learn about ancient civilizations. The wine may instead have been a preservative for kitchen or medicinal herbs, he said.
As DNA tests become more sensitive, scientists are realizing they can use genetic fragments from ancient times to try to answer research questions. DNA extracted from the bones of Neanderthals, for example, has been analyzed, suggesting they interbred with humans.
“A quiet revolution is taking place in archeology with these kinds of studies, where you have sufficient organic preservation to allow the identification of DNA,’’ said Kevin Crisman, director of the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation at Texas A&M University.
Scientists have sent Foley’s collaborator, molecular biologist Maria C. Hansson of Lund University in Sweden, more than 100 samples to identify with the ultrasensitive techniques used on the amphorae.
Patrick E. McGovern, an expert in ancient alcohol, conducts chemical analyses of the residues left in old terrestrial pottery, though not of the DNA, and has found alcohol present with thyme, rosemary, mint, and many other herbs, he said.
“These were ancient medicines,’’ said McGovern, scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia. “They took herbs and put them into alcohol and either drank them or applied them to their skin.’’
McGovern has found a commercial application for his archeological techniques, consulting for Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Delaware, which recreates facsimiles of ancient brews. Most recently, he helped the company develop Ta Henket, a beer fashioned after an ancient Egyptian drink with wheat, chamomile, Middle Eastern herbs, and dom-palm fruit, he said.
