A yellowish liquid found in a bronze pot date back some 2,000 years is not wine , as Chinese archaeologists ab initio guess . It ’s actually an “ elixir of immortality ” concocted during ancient times .
The bronze pot wasdiscovered last Octoberby archaeologists operate at the tomb of a noble family in the Henan Province of central China . The 210 - straightforward - beat internet site in the city of Luoyang dates back to the Western Han Dynasty ( 202 BCE to 8 CE ) and , in accession to the weed , yielded the well - continue remains of a nobleman , painted clay pots , stuff made from jade and bronze , and a lamp in the figure of a fantastic goose .
Intriguingly , the pot contained 3.5 cubic decimeter ( 0.9 gallons ) of a yellow liquid exhibiting a very strong alcohol - comparable flavour . At the time , archaeologist figured it was wine — a conclusion consistent with other breakthrough date back to the same menses . Back then , vino made from rice and sorghum molasses grains were used in ritual sacrifices and ceremonies , reportedXinhua .
But as Xinhua points out in anupdate to this discovery , further lab work has prove that the gist is n’t wine at all . The liquid is primarily be of atomic number 19 nitrate and alunite — the main ingredients of a life - enriching elixir document in ancient Taoist text .
“ It is the first time that mythical ‘ immortality medical specialty ’ have been found in China , ” Shi Jiazhen , head of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Luoyang , told Xinhua . “ The liquid is of significant economic value for the study of ancient Chinese persuasion on achieve immortality and the evolution of Taiwanese civilization . ”
It ’s doubtful , of class , that the combining ofpotassium nitrateandaluniteworked as destine , the former being used in meat processing , plant food , and fireworks , and the latter being used to manufacture alum , which is used in pickling and baking powder . Alunite is fairly benign , but potassium nitrate in high doses is associate with certainhealth peril , range from middle and peel provocation to kidney unsuccessful person , anemia , and even dying .
It ’s undecipherable whether this beverage was actually intended to be consumed , or whether it merely served as a ritual burial object . The only way to cognise for trusted whether the intermixture really confers immortality will be to test it on a human subject . Any military volunteer ?
anthropologyimmortalityScience
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