Pollen content in a II century BC remedy from the Pozzino shipwreck (Tuscany, Italy): its sources and association with the ingredients

Abstract

Six tablets, probably an ancient collyrium, were discovered in a tin pyxis recovered during the archaeological excavation of the so-called Pozzino shipwreck found in the Baratti gulf, near Piombino (Tuscany, Italy). The tablets were previously studied from a historical point of view; micro-morphological and chemical analyses were then performed to establish their composition. In addition, the tablets were subjected to pollen investigation, which revealed the occurrence of a significant amount of pollen grains. The list of pollen morphotypes is long and suggests multiple sources for the grains. Many of the morphotypes belong to Olea; many others belong to plants which display showy flowers and are commonly visited by bees, confirming the presence of a bee product already detected by the chemical analysis. The present paper focuses on the analysis of the pollen content of the medicine and offers conclusions resulting from its study. We hypothesize that the olive pollen grains were added to the tablets together with one or more ingredients, such as pollen bread and/or oleum acerbum (an oil obtained by pressing unripened drupes and which was used in antiquity for therapeutic applications).

Keywords:

• Ancient medical remedy
• bee product
• collyrium
• Olea
• oleum acerbum
• pine resin

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana (now SABAP) which provided the studied material; Dr. Roberta Panzanelli (Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles) for the language revisions; the anonymous reviewers for the useful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article was funded by Italian MIUR (the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research) ex 60% grants to the Department of Biology.

Notes on contributors

Marta Mariotti Lippi

MARTA MARIOTTI LIPPI PhD is a professor of Systematic Botany at the Dipartimento di Biologia of the University of Firenze, Italy. She currently teaches Botany with Laboratory, Reproductive strategies and plant evolution, Forensic botany and Didactics of biology to students of Natural Sciences and Biology. Her research activity is focuses on palynology, archaeobotany with special interest in ancient diets and human impact on the environment, reproductive biology and micromorphology.

Gianna Giachi

GIANNA GIACHI, chemist, worked from 1983 to 2017 as Director of the chemist sector at the Diagnosis and Analysis Laboratory at the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (SABAP Florence) and from 2017, in the same role, at the Museum and Institute of Prehistory in Florence. Her work deals with planning and realizing chemical surveys of diagnostic and conservation purposes for materials of archaeological origin. Her experience is mainly gained in: diagnosis and conservation of archaeological waterlogged wood, characterization of materials and techniques of ancient paintings and characterization of organic substances, such as content, surface finishing and covering, etc. of items of different origin.