In 2020, the god of the National Museum Daniel had an unpleasant incident – on the plane there were three processings of an exhibit, an ancient brick. Scientists took advantage of this to experiment in brick connections and use the internal material for research. It is guaranteed not to contain modern impurities or pollution, and therefore is a kind of “time capsule”.
Judging by the inscriptions on the brick, from Vestno, it was made for the construction of the city of Kalhu in what is now northern Iraq. The brick was part of the construction of the palace of Ashurnasirpal II, king of Assyria. The years of its construction are estimated accurately: between 879 and 869 BC. So, the age of the brick is 2900 years.
According to the technology of that time, bricks were molded from mud and clay from the banks of the Tigris River, mixed with straw and manure, as well as other garbage. It is important that the brick dried under construction conditions, it was not fired, and therefore the guarantee of the preservation of DNA NC inside it was considerable. What was revealed – a team of scientists after studying the findings of 34 plant species isolated from the DNA of an ancient brick.
Among the specimens found, birch, laurel, cabbage, heather, umbrella and cultivated grasses were identified. Animal DNA has been detected by NET, although this method is also suitable for their detection. It is assumed that in this way it is possible to change and recognize the remains of ancient life is hardly possible, and from every shard or brick. One difficulty is that not all of them are provided with inscriptions about their age and place. manufacturing.
Source: Tech Cult
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