August 20, 2007: Oldest gum

Undertoad · 08-20-2007, 01:14 PM

It's Neatorama Collaboration Monday!

From the Guardian via Spluch comes this item: a 5,000 year old piece of chewing gum, found by a British archeology student.

The gum is made from birch bark tar, and the reason they think it's gum is that it has a big ol' human tooth print in it. Kinda weak, but that's how archaeologists think isn't it?

Also, it was stuck to the bottom of a prehistoric theater seat.

Future archaeologists will determine that pen caps are the gum of the year 2000, designed to be colorful and long-lasting and as flavorful as regular gum after use.

Quote:

Trevor Brown, her tutor at the University of Derby, said: "Birch bark tar contains phenols, which are antiseptic compounds. It is generally believed that Neolithic people found that by chewing this stuff if they had gum infections it helped to treat the condition."

Sini Annala, from the Kierikki Centre, said: "The actual material is some kind of tar, that was made by heating birch bark. After the tar was made ... it was boiled, and when it cooled, it became solid. "When it was heated again, it became softer, and it was used as some kind of chewing gum."

Obviously prehistoric man was much more intelligent than we moderns, able to work out all sorts of medicine and a complicated manufacturing process. Unfortunately they were unable to write any of this down and so their knowledge was lost to the ages. Who knows, maybe birch tar gum is the secret to curing cancer. Break me off a piece and boil and cool and reheat it, won't you? Mmm tasty.

Be sure to visit Neatorama for more neato items all the time!

Shawnee123 · 08-20-2007, 01:26 PM

Violet Beauregard is going to be so pissed.

Spexxvet · 08-20-2007, 01:27 PM

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor over 5,000 years?

xoxoxoBruce · 08-20-2007, 02:06 PM

Life's a birch.

dar512 · 08-20-2007, 02:40 PM

I bet this was the early equivalent for duct tape too.

Spexxvet · 08-20-2007, 04:03 PM

Ya know.... it could be a boogey.

Sheldonrs · 08-20-2007, 04:17 PM

Coincided with the discovery of the oldest known school desk.

Elspode · 08-20-2007, 09:13 PM

I heard an interview with the student who found this on the way home from work tonight. The interviewer had already thought of most of these jokes.

JuancoRocks · 08-20-2007, 09:59 PM

Holey molar!

justush · 08-21-2007, 12:26 AM

Its actually a human brain. You couldn't eat it, just chew because people were thick blokes back then.

lumberjim · 08-21-2007, 12:54 AM

looks like an old cat turd.

this may be the ugliest picture of the day i remember seeing. Not that there haven't been uglier things....just that this bit of ....matter...is about as ..unpicturesque as it gets. I mean.....even really exceptionally ugly things that are pictures of the day because of their ugliness have a certain allure based in that selfsame nastiness. beautifully ugly....like those dogs. but this? it's a little piece of shit lying on some gravel.

DO OVER!

JuancoRocks · 08-21-2007, 02:32 AM

lumberjim
Looks like an old cat turd. ^^^^:p :p

Aliantha · 08-21-2007, 03:31 AM

Wasn't birch bark used as a pain killer at some time during human history? Is it possible someone had a tooth ache and was chewing on it for relief?

spudcon · 08-21-2007, 06:02 AM

Actually, it was always a rock. The tooth mark was made by a member the tribe of homo nodentus, or the toothless ones, who died out from their custom of eating rocks.

Kumbulu · 08-21-2007, 09:14 AM

If I accidentally swallow this, will it join the big pile of gum in my stomach and block up my stomach and make me dead?

08-20-2007, 01:26 PM	#2
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	Violet Beauregard is going to be so pissed. __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

08-20-2007, 01:27 PM	#3
Spexxvet Makes some feel uncomfortable Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 10,346	Does your chewing gum lose its flavor over 5,000 years? __________________ "I'm certainly free, nay compelled, to spread the gospel of Spex. " - xoxoxoBruce

08-20-2007, 02:06 PM	#4
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Life's a birch. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

08-20-2007, 02:40 PM	#5
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	I bet this was the early equivalent for duct tape too. __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

08-20-2007, 04:03 PM	#6
Spexxvet Makes some feel uncomfortable Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 10,346	Ya know.... it could be a boogey. __________________ "I'm certainly free, nay compelled, to spread the gospel of Spex. " - xoxoxoBruce

08-20-2007, 04:17 PM	#7
Sheldonrs Master Dwellar Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 4,412	Coincided with the discovery of the oldest known school desk. __________________ Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and the world laughs AT you.

08-20-2007, 09:13 PM	#8
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	I heard an interview with the student who found this on the way home from work tonight. The interviewer had already thought of most of these jokes. __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

08-20-2007, 09:59 PM	#9
JuancoRocks Sir Post-A-Lot Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Paradise Valley, Arizona Posts: 437	Oldest gum Holey molar!

08-21-2007, 12:26 AM	#10
justush Writer of Writings Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 14	Its actually a human brain. You couldn't eat it, just chew because people were thick blokes back then.

08-21-2007, 12:54 AM	#11
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	looks like an old cat turd. this may be the ugliest picture of the day i remember seeing. Not that there haven't been uglier things....just that this bit of ....matter...is about as ..unpicturesque as it gets. I mean.....even really exceptionally ugly things that are pictures of the day because of their ugliness have a certain allure based in that selfsame nastiness. beautifully ugly....like those dogs. but this? it's a little piece of shit lying on some gravel. DO OVER! __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

08-21-2007, 02:32 AM	#12
JuancoRocks Sir Post-A-Lot Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Paradise Valley, Arizona Posts: 437	lumberjim Looks like an old cat turd. ^^^^:p :p

08-21-2007, 03:31 AM	#13
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	Wasn't birch bark used as a pain killer at some time during human history? Is it possible someone had a tooth ache and was chewing on it for relief? __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

08-21-2007, 06:02 AM	#14
spudcon Beware of potatoes Join Date: May 2007 Location: Upstate NY, USA Posts: 2,078	Actually, it was always a rock. The tooth mark was made by a member the tribe of homo nodentus, or the toothless ones, who died out from their custom of eating rocks.

08-21-2007, 09:14 AM	#15
Kumbulu Kitten Whisperer Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 49	If I accidentally swallow this, will it join the big pile of gum in my stomach and block up my stomach and make me dead?

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