Molecular Archaeology, or Archaeological Chemistry, is the "wave of the future" in archaeology. By rigorously applying ever more precise chemical and anthropological techniques, this nascent, highly multidisciplinary field holds out the prospect of uncovering much more of what it means to be human, both biologically and culturally, over the past 2 million years and more.
McGovern will illustrate the key importance of fermentation microorganisms and cultures for beverages from Egypt (a wine, dated ca. 3150 B.C., which included whole raisins, sliced figs suspended by strings into the must, and a precursor of the S. cerevisiae yeast), China (our earliest chemically identified fermented beverage, ca. 7000 B.C., as well as later Shang Dynasty beverages, retained as liquids inside hermetically sealed, 3000-year-old bronze vessels which were laced with medicinal herbs and likely made by mold saccharification), and Scandinavia (where more than 3500 years ago, a mixed fermented beverage of native fruits, herbs and tree resins, and grains was being made with native yeast and microorganisms). The speaker will show how a range of scientific techniques, including INAA, LC/MS/MS with an Orbitrap detector, GC/MS, SPME, FT-IR, DNA sequencing, etc. are essential to resolving key archaeological questions, including why fermented beverages are so central to human cultures around the world and as far back in time as we can detect them.