Penn Museum Scholars Speakers Series:

"Biomolecular Archaeology: Past and Future."

Speakers: Dr. Patrick McGovern, Scientific Director, Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory andGretchen Hall, Consulting Scholar for the Near East Section.

Highly sensitive chemical techniques, which have become available overthe past several decades, have made it possible to identify fingerprintcompounds of ancient organics and natural products, and to evenre-create ancient beverages, foods, medicines, dyes, and other goods.Penn Museum's Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory has been at theforefront of these developments.

Some of the lab's past discoveries focused on Royal Purple and the“King Midas” funerary feast, and set our research agenda for thefuture. Recent analyses of wines from Etruria and their impact onsouthern France illustrate how viniculture was transferred from oneculture to another. A new project in collaboration with Penn's Abramsonand Medical Centers shows how ancient fermented beverages, laced withherbs and other botanicals, can be explored for their anti-cancer andother medicinal effects.

In short, biomolecular archaeology holds out the prospect of uncoveringmuch more about what it means to be human, both biologically andculturally, by uncovering and reconstructing our human ancestry andgenetic development, cuisine, medical practice and other crafts overthe past 4 million years and more.

http://www.penn.museum/events-calendar/details/685-biomolecular-archaeology-past-and-future.html