Researchers in Britain have unveiled a new method to identify tobacco use among people who lived centuries ago. In a recent peer reviewed publication, scientists describe a technique that looks beyond teeth and pipes to read a chemical record preserved in the bones themselves. This approach offers a fresh glimpse into how everyday habits shaped past communities, extending the archaeologist’s toolkit for reconstructing daily life across long stretches of time.
Previously, scholars could sometimes tell if a person smoked by marks on clay pipes or traces left on teeth, but many smokers did not preserve their dentition. When teeth vanished or deteriorated, those telltale signs faded as well. The new method responds to that gap by turning to bone chemistry, where metabolic traces can linger long after other clues fade. It is a non destructive line of inquiry that respects the integrity of fragile remains while expanding what researchers can learn about everyday life in the past.
At the heart of the method are metabolites captured in human bones. The researchers applied modern metabolomics techniques to the remains of individuals who lived in England during the 18th century. By examining the chemical signatures stored in bone, they looked for patterns that correlate with tobacco use and can withstand the test of time long after the person died.
To sharpen the signal, the team compared bone chemistry from 18th century tobacco users with samples drawn from the 1500s, a period before tobacco became widespread in the country. The comparison revealed dozens of distinctive compounds associated with smoking, spanning several metabolic pathways and offering a robust chemical fingerprint of tobacco exposure. The researchers used high resolution analytical methods to ensure that the results could distinguish tobacco related signatures from other substances people might have ingested or absorbed during life.
The analysis extended to 323 skeletons from North Lincolnshire and London. The data showed that smoking was widely practiced in England about four centuries ago, with roughly half of the individuals bearing a tobacco related signature. Those classified as smokers represented a cross section of society and included both men and women from various occupations, underscoring that tobacco use cut across social boundaries and age groups in past populations.
Experts emphasize that this approach not only confirms whether someone smoked, but also opens a window onto the substances people used. The technique can illuminate cultural and economic factors that shaped consumption patterns, and it holds promise for revealing how changes in trade, availability, and social norms altered tobacco use over time. In this way, researchers can begin to map not just who smoked, but how smoking intersected with daily life, health, and identity in historical communities.
Earlier archaeologists studied remains preserved in unusual contexts, such as vessels containing liquids like wine, which can help preserve bone material and widen the archaeological record. The present work builds on those foundations, showing how modern chemistry can unlock the hidden chemical stories buried in ancient bones. By expanding the range of detectable substances in skeletal material, this research offers a richer, more nuanced portrait of past societies and their everyday choices regarding tobacco and related products.