Scientists from the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences examined the beads and bracelet pieces and determined that they were made of birch tar. The study was published on: magazine Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
These decorations were found by archaeologists in 2015-2016 in the ancient Dayuanzi cemetery in southwestern China’s Yunnan province. According to experts, they are approximately two thousand years old; B.C. They date back to the period 475. until 8 AD
Chemical and microscopic analyzes showed that the jewelry creators used birch tar as a raw material. Tar is a liquid product obtained from the dry distillation of wood. It was known that ancient people used tar in condensed form only as a glue component for fastening, but not as a raw material. The authors emphasized that this finding represents a unique cultural phenomenon and may contribute to a better understanding of how ancient people may have used plants in their cultures.
It was previously depicted on an ancient stele in Spain to put It’s a dead end for archaeologists.