Researchers have extracted ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick from the palace of Neo-Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, exposing the diversity of plant types cultivated then. This discovery might lead to comparable studies on clay products worldwide, offering a window into historic biodiversity.
The National Museum of Denmark is presently home to a clay brick from the palace of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, located in the ancient city of Kalhu. This engraving enables us to properly date the brick to between 879 BCE and 869 BCE.
During a digitalization job at the Museum in 2020, the group of scientists had the ability to acquire samples from the inner core of the brick– indicating that there was a low risk of DNA contamination considering that the brick was created. The group extracted DNA from the samples by adapting a protocol formerly used for other porous products, such as bone.
The clay brick from the National Museum of Denmark from which the samples were derived. Credit: Arnold Mikkelsen og Jens Lauridsen.
After the drawn out DNA had been sequenced, the scientists determined 34 unique taxonomic groups of plants. The plant households with the most abundant sequences were Brassicaceae (cabbage) and Ericaceae (heather). Other represented households were Betulaceae (birch), Lauraceae (laurels), Selineae (umbellifiers), and Triticeae (cultivated lawns).
With the interdisciplinary team comprising assyriologists, archaeologists, geneticists, and biologists, they were able to compare their findings with modern-day botanical records from Iraq as well as ancient Assyrian plant descriptions.
The brick would have been made mainly of mud gathered near the local Tigris River, mixed with product such as chaff or straw, or animal dung. It would have been shaped in a mold before being inscribed with cuneiform script, then left in the sun to dry. The fact that the brick was never ever burned, however delegated dry naturally, would have helped to maintain the hereditary material caught within the clay.
Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen (Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Oxford), joint very first author of the paper, stated: “We were absolutely thrilled to discover that ancient DNA, efficiently safeguarded from contamination inside a mass of clay, can effectively be drawn out from a 2,900-year-old clay brick. This research study task is a perfect example of the value of interdisciplinary partnership in science, as the diverse competence included in this research study offered a holistic method to the investigation of this material and the outcomes it yielded.”
Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen at the excavation site. Credit: Sophie Lund Rasmussen.
In addition to the interesting insight this private brick exposed, the research functions as an evidence of concept and method that could be used to many other historical sources of clay from different locations and time durations all over the world, to determine past flora and fauna. Clay materials are almost constantly present in any historical site around the world, and their context suggests they can typically be dated with high accuracy.
This research study just explained the plant DNA drawn out, as these were the most common and best-preserved specimens. Depending on the sample, all taxa might possibly be identified, consisting of vertebrates and invertebrates. The capability to supply accurate descriptions of ancient biodiversity would be an important tool to much better comprehend and quantify present-day biodiversity loss and to acquire a deeper understanding of ancient and lost civilizations.
” Because of the engraving on the brick, we can assign the clay to a relatively specific time period in a particular area, which means the brick serves as a biodiversity time-capsule of details relating to a single site and its surroundings. In this case, it provides researchers with an unique access to the ancient Assyrians” said Dr Troels Arbøll, joint first author of the paper and junior research study fellow at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, when the research study was carried out.
Referral: “Revealing the secrets of a 2900-year-old clay brick, finding a time pill of ancient DNA” by Troels Pank Arbøll, Sophie Lund Rasmussen, Nadieh de Jonge, Anne Haslund Hansen, Cino Pertoldi and Jeppe Lund Nielsen, 22 August 2023, Scientific Reports.DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-023-38191-w.
The National Museum of Denmark is currently home to a clay brick from the palace of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, situated in the ancient city of Kalhu. This engraving enables us to accurately date the brick to in between 879 BCE and 869 BCE.
The brick would have been made mainly of mud collected near the local Tigris River, blended with product such as chaff or straw, or animal dung. The reality that the brick was never burned, but left to dry naturally, would have assisted to preserve the hereditary material caught within the clay.
The capability to supply precise descriptions of ancient biodiversity would be a valuable tool to much better comprehend and quantify present-day biodiversity loss and to get a much deeper understanding of ancient and lost civilizations.
