Science
Earliest known honey jars in Africa are 3,500 years old – EarthSky
An ancient people with a sweet tooth – the Nok culture of sub-Saharan Africa – used terracotta pots to hold honey 3,500 years ago. They may be the earliest confirmed…
Archaeologist Gabriele Franke of Goethe University, inspecting Nok vessels at the Janjala research station in Nigeria. Franke is a co-author on a new paper about honey-collecting in prehistoric West Africa. Image via Peter Breunig/ University of Bristol.
Terracotta pottery pieces, unearthed at excavation sites in central Nigeria – some as old as 3,500 years – carry direct evidence that the vessels once held honey, humanity’s oldest sweetener. Analyses of residue found in the shards show compounds…
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