The Golden Horde sphero‐conical vessel retrieved from the ruins of the medieval city of Bolgar (Russia, Republic of Tatarstan) during archaeological excavations, which contained residue in the form of encrustation on the bottom and the wall, was analysed in the NRC ‘Kurchatov Institute’ by X‐ray phase analysis and high‐performance liquid and gas chromatography with MS detectors (HPLC–MS, GC–MS). The GC–MS method established that the residue from the sphero‐conical vessel was comprised primarily of abietic acid derivatives (around 46%) and retene, which is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (around 27%); this means that turpentine exuded from the stems of certain species of coniferous trees, called resin and subsequently heat‐treated, was poured into the vessel. Researchers have been trying to decipher the function of these mysterious vessels for 200 years, and this is the first time that resin stored in a sphero‐conical vessel has been documented. Potentially, this vessel was probably used as a personal ‘medical kit’.
Black deposit was discovered on the inner wall of a sphero-conical vessel found during archaeological excavations on the territory of the Volga Bulgars. Compounds from the deposit were extracted with organic solvents and studied by gas chromatography with flame ionization and mass spectrometry detectors. Abietic acid derivatives, including retene, present in the composition of soft wood turpentine were identified. The relatively high retene concentration in the remains of the spherocone and also the presence of other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons suggest the thermal version of their origin. Probably, the vessel was used as a part of alambik, which is an ancient distillation apparatus for the distillation of soft wood turpentine.
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