Humans around the globe probably discovered natural remedies against disease and cancer by trial and error over the millennia. Biomolecular archaeological analyses of ancient organics, especially plants dissolved or decocted as fermented beverages, have begun to reveal the preliterate histories of traditional pharmacopeias, which often date back thousands of years earlier than ancient textual, ...

Plant remains from archaeological sites can provide information about the ancient environment. However, these remains should be considered archaeological artifacts, "filtered" through human culture. Adequate interpretation is only possible, and is indeed enriched, by taking the cultural practices of human populations into account. This approach is applied to archaeobotanical materials from Maly...

Background: Chemical warfare agents (CWA) were most notably used during the First World War in Europe, against Iranians and Kurdish citizens of Iraq at the hands of Saddam Hossein’s regime in 1980s and more recently in Syria. The use of CWA is banned under the international law. Methods: Ancient uses of CWA are not well studied. Recently, their use during the Persian siege of the Roman-held Dur...

It is argued that whenever the political situation provides a favourable environment, the archaeological activities have been encouraged to provoke nationalism, and historians in various capacities have used archaeological data and historical records to advocate nationalist agendas.  Owing to its rich archaeological and historical past and its contemporary socio-cultural diversity, Iran is, par...

Previous geoarchaeological research on the Akko coastal plain have contributed to understanding of ancient interface and added evidence as location/shift anchorages dating from Middle Bronze Age (beginning 2nd Millennium BC) Early Hellenistic period (mid century site Tel Akko. The present provides new insights into environmental changes likely anchorage sites along western edge in 1st BC (Iron ...

archaeological evidence from islamic era reflects trade contacts and flourishing commerce in the persian gulf. indeed, some regional infrastructures surviving from sassanian times could have acted as the basis for these interactions. mahruban is one of the most important ports in the persian gulf with evidence of extensive trade contacts with such neighboring ports as basra, siniz and ganaveh o...

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has become widely known as a case of ‘‘ecocide,’’ where the ancient Polynesians recklessly destroyed their environment and, as a consequence, suffered collapse. In recent publications, both popular and academic, scholars have promoted this perspective, drawing upon archaeological evidence and offering Rapa Nui as a parable for our current global crisis. In this paper we...

In this study, Ascaris DNA was extracted and sequenced from a medieval archaeological sample in Korea. While Ascaris eggs were confirmed to be of human origin by archaeological evidence, it was not possible to pinpoint the exact species due to close genetic relationships among them. Despite this shortcoming, this is the first Ascaris ancient DNA (aDNA) report from a medieval Asian country and t...