Preserved through time Part.II

Like lakes and rivers, bogs and marshes preserve organic remains by excluding oxygen. Wetlands are often acidic, which prevents the growth of bacteria. They dissolve bone and preserve skin. A number of wooden track ways survive in waterlogged sites in Europe, such as the Sweet track in Somerset levels in England- the oldest road in the world, built in about 4000BC. Wooden tools, basketry, and foods such as nuts have been found near these tracks. But the best known wetland finds are bog bodies- mainly Iron Age victims of human sacrifice. Often, they would that caused their death is still visible.

In the cold regions of Central Asia and the Arctic temperatures are often too low for organic decay to take place. Spectacular finds have included whole woolly mammoths, frozen corpses clad in garments made of fur, feathers, and skins, and many artifacts made of wood and leather.

In the icy Taklimakan desert in Central Asia, abandoned wooden towns from the 1^st millennium BC are still standing. The personal possessions of their inhabitants survive- felt garments, wooden musical instruments, mousetraps, and documents written on wooden slips and paper. They are evidence of the harsh life lived by the Chinese officials sent to man the desert out posts on the ancient silk road.

Granary in side  a tomb about 1800BC

The micro organisms which cause decay operate on most effectively in hot, most environments, making humid rainforests a poor place to seek organic remains of the past. But when heat is combined with a lack of moisture, the resulting conditions are just right for preservation. Desert caves n the Mexican highlands have provided abundant archaeological material, such as desiccated plant remains, which shed light on the early history of agriculture in the region. More direct evidence of early food stuffs has been discovered in coprolites- dried faces.

Sweet Track-  Prehistoric track way in Somerset, England

Hot deserts have also preserved objects made of wood, rope reeds, and many other plants and animal materials.  In south west America, desert finds have included rope sandals and decoy ducks beautifully constructed out of reeds, duck skin, and feathers, used for catching wildfowl in about 1500 BC. Even human bodies can survive in these conditions. The corpses of Egyptians buried in desert sands before 3000BC were perfectly preserved by desiccation – an effect that may have inspired the later practice of mummification.

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Preserved through time

Stone, metal and pottery are almost indestructible, and are often found at ancient sites. But organic materials such as wood and clothing are subject to biological decay- a process which requires oxygen, moisture, and warmth. If one of these three conditions is removed, the material has a chance of survival.

In exceptional circumstances, Organic remains have been preserved by chemicals. In the salt mines of early Celtic Europe, leather rucksacks and clothing used by miners survived intact- the salt drew any moisture out of the objects. Tannic acid, which occurs naturally in plants help to preserve human bodies in environments such as bogs. It destroys bone but preserves the soft tissues by pushing water out of the skin and cementing its protein fibers together. The ancient Egyptians mummified bodies using Natron, a dehydrating mineral gathered from the beds and shores of lakes.

Pockets of oxygen free soil combined with chemicals were responsible for the survival of a series of wooden writing tablets bearing letter to roman soldiers serving on Hadrian’s Wall; these included one – perhaps from an anxious mother- about a parcel of warm underwear she had sent.

Rivers and lakes inhibit the decay of organic materials because the lack oxygen- which is vital to the micro organisms that cause decay. Europeans of the Iron Age and later regarded watery places as scared and left offerings in them or metal work and even wooden boats. Many European lakes contain the remains of wooden villages once built on their margins. Submerged costal settlements and shipwrecks are damaged by ocean movements and the micro organisms and corrosive salts in sea water, but once settled in silt, the chances of survival are high. The oldest surviving wreck is a Canaanite ship sunk at Kas, off Anatolia, in about 1350BC.