Le styrax et ses usages antiques

Amigues, Suzanne

doi:10.3406/jds.2007.1885

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…The third occurrence area is located along the Oronte River, close to Hatay. The two last localities significantly shortened since the Hellenic time during which ancient documents indicate that Liquidambar was abundant and intensely used for producing styrax (Amigues, 2007). Pterocarya fraxinifolia is still present in riparian forests along the Black and Marmara seas, being relatively abundant in the latter (Fig.…”

Section: Anatolia: Present-day Plant Refuge Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatolia: A long-time plant refuge area documented by pollen records over the last 23 million years

Bi̇lteki̇n

Popescu²,

Suc

et al. 2015

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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North and South Anatolia areas are today refuge areas for plants that were previously widespread in the European and Mediterranean regions. Thirteen well-dated Anatolian pollen records spanning the last 23 million years allow for a reconstruction of the history of several plants that have disappeared from this region or are surviving in this refuge area. For example, in this study we show that Cedrus is an ancient element of the Anatolian flora. Tropical elements lived in this area until the early Pliocene. Subtropical elements became extinct in the Middle to Late Pleistocene, except for Glyptostrobus (Taxodiaceae swamp tree) and Carya (Juglandaceae, a warm-temperate tree), which may have persisted until recently in this area. In addition, a comparison of palaeofloras coming from different locations ranging from 36-38°N and 40-42°N latitudinal intervals in the northeastern Mediterranean (including Anatolian coastal regions) with those from Europe and North Africa has been done. This shows that the North and South Anatolia areas appear to have been separate refuges for thermophilous-hygrophilous plants since the early Pliocene (ca. 5 Million years). Today, Anatolia is a plant refuge area for warmtemperate species, which have almost completely (Zelkova) or completely (Pterocarya, Liquidambar, Parrotia persica) disappeared from other European and peri-Mediterranean regions. Taxodiaceae swamp ecosystems (Glyptostrobus) might have recently disappeared from the southern Black Sea shoreline. New pollen data from Anatolia also allowed us in calibrating the timing of floristic extinctions at a continental scale and helped us in clarifying the reasons of the different floral extinctions and dynamics (breaking up and shifting) in the refuge areas. Thanks to global warming there is a potential for the survival and expansion of thermophilous species (Pterocarya fraxinifolia, Zelkova abelica, Liquidambar orientalis) in this area.

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Section: Anatolia: Present-day Plant Refuge Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatolia: A long-time plant refuge area documented by pollen records over the last 23 million years

Bi̇lteki̇n

Popescu²,

Suc

et al. 2015

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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“…In the Mediterranean region this resin is exclusively produced in response to an incision of two types of trees: Styrax officinalis ( Styracaceae family) and L. orientalis ( Hamamelidaceae family). Both were known and utilised in antiquity, for example as an incense, medicinal or cosmetic product 32 . While their modern distribution (South of Europe and the Middle East 33 for the former, and the South of Turkey, Cyprus and Rhodes 34 for the latter) would favour S. officinalis as the source of the archaeological resin, both were considered as a potential match.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This conclusion was made by comparison with a commercial resin, but based on the present work, it appears that all the resins commercially available under the label “ Styrax officinalis ” that we have investigated turned out to be mixtures of substances of other origins. This can be explained by the difficulty of obtaining resin from S. officinalis , which is only produced under specific conditions (suitable climate, in response to an intentional incision or injury of the bark) and with an extremely low yield 32 . Concerning our own sampling of fresh resin, it took a long period of time to collect sufficient amounts (a few milligrams) of resin for analytical purposes, and pure resin could not be obtained (resin was mixed with bark).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of the earliest collagen- and plant-based coatings from Neolithic artefacts (Nahal Hemar cave, Israel)

Solazzo

Courel

Connan³

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Mortuary practices in human evolution record cognitive, social changes and technological innovations. The Neolithic Revolution in the Levant was a watershed in this domain that has long fascinated the archaeological community. Plaster modelled skulls are well known at Jericho and several other Neolithic sites, and in Nahal Hemar cave (Israel, ca. 8200 −7300 cal. BC) excavations yielded six unique human skulls covered with a black organic coating applied in a net pattern evoking a headdress. This small cave was used as storage for paraphernalia in the semi-arid area of the Judean desert and the dry conditions preserved other artefacts such as baskets coated with a similar dark substance. While previous analysis had revealed the presence of amino acids consistent with a collagen signature, in the present report, specific biomarkers were characterised using combined proteomic and lipid approaches. Basket samples yielded collagen and blood proteins of bovine origin (Bos genus) and a large sequence coverage of a plant protein charybdin (Charybdis genus). The skull residue samples were dominated by benzoate and cinnamate derivatives and triterpenes consistent with a styrax-type resin (Styrax officinalis), thus providing the earliest known evidence of an odoriferous plant resin used in combination with an animal product.

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“…This environmental dependence for resin production was known since the Antiquity, compelling therefore Greeks to import the coveted resin from Phoenicia [3,8].…”

Section: Version Avant Révisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Balsams were used to treat, among others, chronic diseases of the respiratory tract (e.g., cold and asthma) and the women pains [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], as well as by embalmers to avoid body putrefaction [10][11][12]. Moreover, due to the presence of volatile aromatic compounds, balsams were used for fumigation during religious rituals or for formulation of perfumes, ointments and cosmetics [8,13,14]. Nevertheless, the relatively similar healing and olfactory properties of the various resins known as balsams led to a major mix-up at the botanical and linguistic level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential of triterpenoids as chemotaxonomic tools to identify and differentiate genuine, adulterated and archaeological balsams

Courel

Adam

Schaeffer

2019

Microchemical Journal

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Plant exudates have been extensively used in the past for different applications related to their olfactory, physical or medical properties. Their identification in archaeological samples relies, notably, on the characterisation of chemotaxonomic molecular markers but is often hampered by the severe alteration of their typical genuine molecular signature due to ageing. Among these exudates, those recovered from Styrax, Liquidambar and Myroxylon tree species-defined as balsams-have been exploited in the past for their pleasant scent and medical properties. They are characterized by a large variety of aromatic compounds, especially of the cinnamate and benzoate series, which can be used to assess their botanical source. These compound series may, however, be subject to alteration over time during exposure to environmental conditions in the case of archaeological material. As a result, their reliability as chemotaxonomic markers to characterise and discriminate archaeological balsams is problematic and questionable. We have, therefore, carried out a comparative analysis of various balsams (Styrax officinalis, S. paralleloneurum, S. tonkinensis, Liquidambar styraciflua, L. orientalis and M. balsamum var. pereirae) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to search for more reliable solid lipid markers. The results revealed that, even in the case of extended alteration/removal of cinnamic and benzoic acid derivatives, a distinction between styrax, liquidambars, Peru and Tolu balsams remains possible based on the distribution of pentacyclic triterpenes. The predominance of

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Le styrax et ses usages antiques

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Anatolia: A long-time plant refuge area documented by pollen records over the last 23 million years

Anatolia: A long-time plant refuge area documented by pollen records over the last 23 million years

Identification of the earliest collagen- and plant-based coatings from Neolithic artefacts (Nahal Hemar cave, Israel)

The potential of triterpenoids as chemotaxonomic tools to identify and differentiate genuine, adulterated and archaeological balsams

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