Archaeologist Gabriele Franke of Goethe University inspects Nok vessels at the Janjala Research Station in Nigeria. Franke is co-author of a new article on the collection of honey in prehistoric West Africa. Image via Peter Breunig / University of Bristol.
Terracotta earthworks excavated at excavation sites in central Nigeria – some as old as 3,500 years – contain direct evidence that the vessels ever contained honey, the oldest sweetener of mankind. Analyzes found in the shards show compounds found in beeswax, suggesting that waxy combs could be heated in the barrels to separate the honey. This new knowledge is an exciting discovery in the world of archeology. Direct evidence from sub-Saharan Africa – related to bees and beekeeping – has so far been lacking.
The new findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal on April 14, 2021 Nature communication.
A map showing the ancient Nok area in present-day Nigeria. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Pottery is associated with the Nok culture, a civilization that first originated in 1500 BC and lasted for about 1500 years. The Cam was known for extensive terracotta sculptures that were the oldest known sculpture in Africa. The Nok culture was present in a time and place where early farmers and feeders existed. But it is not known, for example, whether people of the Nok culture made animals, or that they were rather hunters. Archaeologists have studied Nok figurines and other artifacts to learn more about this early culture. This includes identifying the food they ate.
Nok terracotta figurines. Image via Goethe University / University of Bristol.
In archeological sites, scientists are looking for food scraps to learn how to use feed, hunting and agriculture. Animal bones in the ground, for example, provide valuable clues. But in the central areas of Nigeria, the acidic soil preserves no animal remains. Therefore, the scientists turned their attention to ceramic shards, more than 450 pieces, which did chemical analyzes to look for food scraps trapped in the porous terracotta.
The scientists were surprised to discover that about a third of the pottery contains complex lipids found in beeswax. The beeswax could have been trapped in the terracotta pores of the barrels when it melted during heating, or was incorporated into the pottery during the storage of honeycombs. Stable lipids in the beeswax were then preserved for thousands of years. A chemical analysis technique called gas chromatography was used to identify the lipid compounds as the origin of beeswax.
Julie Dunne of the University of Bristol is the lead author of the new article. She said in a statement:
This is a remarkable example of how biomolecular information from prehistoric pottery, combined with ethnographic data, gave the first insight into the ancient honey hunt in West Africa, 3,500 years ago.
Check out my blog in @NatureEcoEvo on us @NatureComms honey hunt in west africa 3500 years ago paper # lipid # bye #honey #Nok # Nigeriahttps://t.co/urkVLhXGQh
– Dr Julie Dunne (@thepotlady) 15 April 2021
It is difficult to know for sure how honey was used by the ancient Nok. They probably heated the combs in the pots to separate the honey in them. Maybe the honey was processed along with other foods. It is even possible that the barrels were used for making grass. Beeswax can be used medically, as a cosmetic, or for other practical applications such as making a sealant or adhesive. The pottery itself could be used to house beehives, as is done today by some traditional societies in Africa.
Bees and their association with honey appear in prehistoric petroglyphs and paintings. For example, an 8,000-year-old cave painting in Valencia, Spain, shows a man collecting honey from a wild hive. There are more than 4,000 documented cases of prehistoric rock art with bees and honey in Africa. According to ancient Egyptian records, beekeeping was practiced as early as 2600 BC. But until now, little was known directly about the collection of honey in sub-Saharan Africa. Richard Evershed, also from the University of Bristol and a co-author of the article, said in the statement:
The association of prehistoric people with the honey bee is a recurring theme in the ancient world; the discovery of the chemical components of beeswax in the pottery of the Nok people provides a unique window for this relationship, while all other evidence is lacking.
Excavation at a Nok site in Ifana, Nigeria. Image via Peter Breunig / University of Bristol.
In short: The earliest direct evidence of the collection of honey in sub-Saharan Africa, from 3500 years ago, was announced by scientists who found remains of beeswax in ancient terracotta pottery related to the Nok culture in Central Nigeria .
Source: Honey collection in prehistoric West Africa from 3500 years ago
Read “behind the newspaper” by lead author Julie Dunne
Via the University of Bristol
Via Goethe University
