Tepe Gawra corretto 4 - Giorgio Samorinicoming from the citadel, miniature example n°407 from a grave 42 14: Tapputi-Belate Kallim tablet 43 15: Drawings of Late Ubaid type of channel

BEHIND DISTILLATION

EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY

1 – ONE

Tepe Gawra and the spread of its channel jar

to Slovakia Sardinia and Cyprus

(experiments visible on web site www.perfumecypark.org)

Maria Rosaria Belgiorno

Giorgio Samorini: Foreword Sara Elifani Shiels: Proofreading Antonio De Strobel: Computer processing of all illustrations © Photographs and elaborations: Fig.: 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 and hard cover. Edited by Antonio De Strobel Sponsor: Associazione Culturale “Armonia”, Roma.

Copyright © 2018 Maria Rosaria Belgiorno All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-9963-2448-4-3

Edited by: Antonio De Strobel December 2018

Nicosia – Cyprus

DEDICATION This research is dedicated to Prof. Vassos Karageorghis, whose scholarly advice to compare the tripod of Teratsoudhia with the Ubaid pots of Tepe Gawra, and screen their functionality, and form the basis of the results presented in this short essay.

Experimental Archaeology 1-one

iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply indebted to Prof. Vassos Karageorghis for allowing me to study the Teratsoudhia tripod and analyse a fragment of the vessel. I would like to thank the Department of the Antiquities of Cyprus for the license to export the fragment of the Teratsoudhia pot to perform analyses of the possible content of the vase in the laboratory at the Institute for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage of the CNR. I also would like to thank my colleague Alessandro Lentini for the analysis carried out on the fragment and for all the precious time he has dedicated to our research. Finally, I would like to thank the Yiannulla Lazarou Foundation and the Perfume Theme Museum Park of Cyprus for supporting and hosting the experiments presented below.

INDEX

1 – Introduction 19

1.2 -Protocol of Experimental Archaeology 22

1.2.1 -Introduction to the protocol 22

1.2.2 -Aim 22

1.2.3 -The experimental archaeology steps 23

1.2.4 -The investigation parameters 23

1.2.5 -Archaeological evidence 23

1.2.6 -Example of methodology applied to each evidence 23

1.2.7 -Conclusion 24

2 - Tepe Gawra 25

2.1 -Introduction 25

2.2 -Location 26

2.2.1 -Geographical area 27

2.2.2 -Botanical resources 29

2.3 -Investigations on the subject 36

2.4 -The recognition of the archaeological and historical data 39

2.5 -Some anomalous pottery from Tepe Gawra, possibly connected with distillation 47

2.5.1 -Filter specimens 47

2.5.2 -Strainer bowl 48

2.5.3 -Strainer flask 48

2.5.4 -Strainer jar 50

2.5.6 -Strainer/Funnels 52

2.6 -The Temple 55

2.7 -The lid of the channel collar jar 59

2.8 -Consideration on Biodiversity 63


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2.9 -Remaking replicas of Chalcolithic pots from Tepe Gawra 65

2.9.1 -The first apparatus of Tepe Gawra: replicas and results 68

2.9.2 -The second apparatus of Tepe Gawra: replica and result 70

2.9.3 -The third apparatus of Tepe Gawra: replicas and results 74

2.10 -Tepe Gawra evidence of an advanced technology out of time? 76

3 -Slovakia, Cyprus and Sardinia 79

3.1 -Some intriguing specimens along the way to Slovakia 79

3.1.1 -Spišský Stvrtok and its channel collar jar 80

3.1.2 -The lid 82

3.1.3 -The spout 84

3.1.4 -Experimental archaeology 85

3.1.5 – Results 87

3.2 -The device from Teratsoudhia (Paphos), Cyprus 89

3.2.1 -Description 90

3.2.2 -Archaeometry 91

3.2.3 -Comparisons with Tepe Gawra and Spišský Stvrtok 93

3.2.4 -Experimental Archaeology 94

3.2.4.1 -The lid 94

3.3 -Cylindrical neck ollae (olle a collare) from Nuraghe

Nastasi of Tertenia (Nuoro) and Nuraghe La Prisgiona,

Capichera, Arzachena in Sardinia 96

3.3.1 -The device from Nuraghe Nastasi of Tertenia (Nuoro) 97

3.3.2 -The device from Nuraghe La Prisgiona, Capichera Arzachena 100

4 -Conclusions and considerations on the experiments: how the clay may interfere in making perfumes 102

5 -References 107

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FIGURES

1: Near East map 27

2: Near_East_topographic_map 28

3: Mesopotamian sites where channel pots have been found 29

4: Representation of Pinus top branches with needles on two bowls from Tepe Gawra: level XII 30 5: Juniperus_oxycedrus in Cyprus forest 31

6: Pistacia Lentiscus L. Anacardiaceae family 32

7: Laurus nobilis 32

8: Pinus Brutia 33

9: Cupressus sempervirens 33

10: Arundo Donax on a small river in Troodos 34

11: Landscape view of Tepe Gawra 39

12: Aerial view of Tell Brak large settlement 40

13: Seven specimens of the Tepe Gawra double rimmed pot (1:10), coming from the citadel, miniature example n°407 from a grave 42

14: Tapputi-Belate Kallim tablet 43

15: Drawings of Late Ubaid type of channel pot

from Rysanek & Václavû, 1989 44

16: Replicas of the double rimmed Ubaid pot at the Chemicals Museum of “La Sapienza” University of Rome 45

17: Strainer bowl 5000 BC, from Tell Brak 48

18: Tepe Gawra n° 97, n°100 Speiser 1935, Pl LXVII 48

19: Strainer flask from Dikili Tash Macedonia, Salonicco Museum 49

20: Strainer flasks from Mohengio Daro, Dwaraka and Harappa: New Dheli Museum 49

21: Tepe Gawra strainer flask n° 360, H. 33,6, D. 22,2 50

22: Jar n° 406: H. 36.5cm, D. 53.5cm. G6-165. Level XI, and strainer n° 360 H. 33.6cm, D. 22.2cm 51

23: 1. Hydro-distillation: plant material in water; 2. Steam-distillation:


viii

plant material above water; 3. Wet steam distillation: plant material above water; 4. Hydro/steam combination: plant material in the water and above water. From Harman 2015, Figure 3. 1,2,3,4 52

24: Drawings of Strainer and Funnel, Stratum XII/XI-A of Tepe Gawra, Tobler 1950: n° 319, and n° 325, p. 238 53

25: TepeGawra n°1804, Tobler 1950 N°413: G.5, Lev. XI 53

26: Graphic and replica assemblage of the device composed by n°319, n° 325 and n° 413, found in level XIA/XII, square G5-6, belonging to the Middle Chalcolithic, 4200 BC 54

27: Aerial view of Tepe Gawra hill: still visible are central trenches cutting the top and the limits of occupation 56 28: Clay relief panel representing Ishtar, 1800 BC. Courtesy British

Museum, London 57

29: Hypothesis of Rysanek & Václavû 1989 Fig. 3 59

30: Old drawing of the n°411, Levey 1955, Fig. 9 60

31: Tobler drawings of n°411, Pl CXLVII see the different position of the spout in Fig. 30 60

32: Comparison between Tepe Gawra n°2233 and the copper dome- top for distillation of “Noble Grape company”: Oxford (902 423-2739). After 6000 years the shape is quite the same and the spout moved in the middle 61

33: Experimental graphic assemblage of T.G. n°2233 level IX on Tepe Gawra n° 406 level IX, Sq. G3 62

34: Channel collar jar n° 2227, Penn Museum inv. n° 33-3-036 62

35: Experimental graphic assemblage of n°2838, positioned as cover of n°2227, respecting the original measures 63

36: Tepe Gawra: impression of reed matting found in tomb 34: Tobler 1950. Pl. XLVII, a 64

37: Main deposits of clay and bentonite of Cyprus, Bear 1963 66

38: The environment of Kornos village, near Nicosia 67

39: Polishing the pot surface with cane shapers 67

40: Smoothing the surface with a piece of wet leather 67

41: Replicas of n° 325, n° 319, n° 413 and their assembling 68

42: The 1st apparatus on the fire during distillation 69

ix

43: Remains of rosin on the surface of pot after distillation 69

44: Making the replica at Kornos clay, and the result after cooking 70

45: Making replica of n°406 71

46: Replica of n°2233 71

47: Strainer with Pine tree leaves inside 71

48: Apparatus assembled with replicas of n° 406 and n°2233 72

49: Starting of distillation 72

50: Position of the fire around the device 73

51: Essential oil recovered with a dropper 73

52: Some essential oil floating on the surface of the liquid 73

53: Leaves of Rosemary inside the lower pot 74

54: Position of the reed according with the hole at 5cm from the base 75

55: Ongoing distillation experiment 76

56: Detail of dropping 77

57: Channel strainers and pot distribution from Anatolia to Slovakia 79

58: Strainer elements found by Schlieman at Troy, 2nd mill. BC 79

59: Spišský Štvrtok position in Slovakia 265 km east of Bratislava, the Carpathian Mountain Area 81

60: Spišský Stvrtok channel jar 81

61: Virtual dwelling distribution of Spišský Stvrtok 82

62: Spišský Stvrtok device reconstruction of Ryšánek & Václavû 83

63: Hypothesis of assemblage with reeds 84

64: Detail of the mouth and replica of the device on the right 85

65: The device with the cover copied from the drawings of Ryšánek & Václavû. 86

66: Switching fire in the stand 86

67: Covers of stand used as support of the pot 87

68: Start of the distillation test 88

69: Helping distillation with wet towels 88

70: Detail of the liquid coming out from the spout 88


x

71: Mediterranean trades during the Late Bronze age 89

72: Google map showing Teratsoudhia and the Sanctuary Aphrodite position 90

73: The device in front 90

74: Lateral view of Teratsoudhia specimen 91

75: Original position of the fragment taken, and package of the Dep. of the Antiquities of Cyprus 92

76: Picture of the internal surface: the lines of the wheel, the grey engobe and the traces of an organic substance are visible 92

77: The device from the top 93

78: The pot full of myrtle leaves, ready for the test 94

79: Distillation test: the liquid is visible in the channel 95

80: Distribution map of Nuragic sites returning Late Bronze channel rimmed jars with ring handles 96

81: Comparison between photos of the cylindrical neck olla with external concave brim from Nuraghe Nastasi of Tertenia at the Museum G.A. Sanna, Sassari: colour photo and first photo published in the Notiziario del Bollettino d’Arte del Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo – 1967, fig. 27 97

82: Nuragic carinated bowl 99

83: Lateral view of the channel pot from La Prisgiona 100

84: Top view of the channel pot. The holes are visible 100

85: Front view of La Prisgiona channel pot and comparison with n°406 of Tepe Gawra. Both devices are approximately 50cm H. 101 __________________________

Behind distillation

13

FOREWORD

Giorgio Samorini In the literature of the twentieth century there is a general tendency to

consider the techniques of distillation as a conquest of our era, since it is

believed that the first to discover they were the Greeks residing in Alexandria

in Egypt at the beginning of the Christian era. The same tendency leads us to

consider, the distillation technique of fermented spirits, to obtain beverages

with a higher concentration of alcohol, an art spread in Europe only around

the twelfth century AD (Forbes, 1948, Liebmann, 1956, Dietler, 2006).

But nineteenth-century scholars were not of this opinion. The writings of

Morewood (1824) and Farley (1907) bear witness to a sudden change of

opinion, for which it is legitimate to suspect that these statements were

dictated by that "modern-centric haughtiness" typical of the twentieth

century Western man, which led us to believe that the ideation and the

distilling techniques were too complex for the ancient man, understood as

"primitive". The archaeological discoveries and modern studies, first of

Belgiorno, are debunking this "myth" of the twentieth century, despite the

difficulty of acceptance that generally accompanies the changes in paradigm.

Archaeology is not a columnist's lounge, it is a scientific discipline, which

nowadays uses sophisticated analytical techniques, through which it is

increasingly able to reconstruct the technical possibilities, the "shadows" and

the thought of ancient man; which today appears to us anything but

"primitive".

The archaeological finds found on three continents demonstrate the great

antiquity of the practice of distillation, which originated long before our era

(Belgiorno, 2017). Even in the Americas, where it is common to believe that


14

the distilling technique was brought by the Spaniards, after the advent of

Christopher Columbus, you find archaeological material and literary

indications suggesting a traditional pre-Columbian knowledge of the distilling

art (Samorini, 2018).

In the current state of knowledge, the hypothesis suggested by Belgiorno

that the distillation techniques have been discovered independently in

different geographical areas, through a process of cultural convergence

induced by common empirical observations, seems plausible. So, without

having to call into question cultural diffusionism, the alternative, sometimes

a bit abused by scholars, which involves a transfer of knowledge through

human contacts and migrations.

One wonders what were the mental processes that made distillation, with

consequent research and development of distillers. As Belgiorno pointed out

in the first pages of this paper, "the need to distil created the so-called

alembic, and not the inverse"; a need that started from some empirical

observations of very ancient date, for which it is opportune to focus our

attention.

A first factor that may have promoted the ideation of the distillation process

concerns the randomness of the observation that is plausibly happening

almost everywhere, especially among the coastal populations, when, for the

most varied reasons, one has started to boil marine water, and found that the

droplets that are formed by the condensation of vapor on the surface of an

object placed above the boiling liquid, for example a lid, are sweet and not

salty like sea water. This observation had already been made by Aristotle, who

wrote in the 4th century BC.

“Salt water when it turns into vapour becomes sweet, and the vapour does

not form salt water when it condenses again. This I know by experiment. The

same thing is true in every case of the kind: wine and all fluids that evaporate

Behind distillation

15

and condense back into a liquid state become water. They all are water

modified by a certain admixture, the nature of which determines their

flavour. But this subject must be considered on another more suitable

occasion”. (Meteorology, II, 3, 358b Translated by E. W. Webster).

Alexander of Aphrodisias, the main ancient commentator of Aristotle, who

lived between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, commenting on Aristotle's

passage, reports that the sailors, when they did not have enough fresh water,

knew how to extract it from the sea water, boiling it and putting on the pot

rags or sponges that were soaked in the steam and that, squeezed, provided

desalinated water (Gwei-Djen et al., 1972: 27). From this same observation

the concept of purity or greater purity of the condensed liquid with respect

to the original liquid can be derived.

A second empirical observation may have occurred anywhere man has

developed alcoholic beverages - grape wine, cereal beers, ciders, mead, etc.

The great antiquity of the processing of fermented beverages is widely

highlighted by archaeology (Samorini, 2017), and the oldest date was recently

set around 11,000 BC, related to the production of cereal beer by the Near

East's Natufian culture (Liu et al., 2018).

It is plausible to think that these drinks may have been placed to heat in a pot

over the fire for the most varied reasons: the droplets that formed from the

condensation of the vapor were inflammable, due to the high concentration

of alcohol. The observation that may have happened accidentally

innumerable times, arouses curiosity and at the same time suggesting magic

spiritual and religious interpretations.

Once again Aristotle seems to be aware of this phenomenon, reporting that

the exhalation of wine is inflammable, and that this exhalation "has no taste

of wine and does not cause intoxication like any other wine" (Meteorology,

IV, 9, 387b).


16

It is from these empirical observations that the concept of the spiritual

waters comes, a term now in disuse in the Italian language, but still used in

English to indicate spirits (spirituous liquors), ie liquids that "internally have

a spirit". Also, the ardent water and the French water-of-life (eau-de-vie), as

well as other terms widespread in the world to designate alcoholic distillates,

originate from the concept of a liquid that has inside the fire, a liquid that

burns. Even before the feeling of burning in the stomach when ingested, the

liqueurs burn because if placed in contact with the fire emit a flame.

Around this flame that emanates from a liquid, as an exuberant

manifestation of the opposites, religious rites were developed with rituals

aimed at impressing and marvelling the spectator neophytes. The Christian

theologian Hippolytus has left a testimony of this in his passage (Refutatio

omnium haeresium (4.31), a work of the third century AD, where he describes

the gnostic baptism, during which "the fire obtained from distilled wine"

magical flames on the head of the baptizing.

Since the most ancient times the distillers have been used for two main

purposes: to produce essences and perfumes, and to obtain liquids with a

high concentration of alcohol. For many reasons it is not yet possible to

determine with certainty the use of the equipment found in archaeological

contexts, whether for intoxicating, magical, medicinal or cosmetic purposes.

We do not know if these ancient stills could produce alcoholic distillates, as

well as essences and perfumes.

On this problem, Belgiorno offers a consideration that at first glance might

seem puzzling or elusive, that is, that we should not look for a differentiation

of use for these stills because there was not, and that this promiscuity of use

would have "facilitated the mixing of material for the production of

pharmaceutical compounds ".

Behind distillation

17

Aware of how many times our modern thoughts, with their functional

cataloguing, obscure and do not allow us to capture the modalities of ancient

thought, I do not object to this courageous hypothesis, while awaiting the

results of future research. A contribution to this problem can be made by the

experimental archaeology, and in this regard, the project of Belgiorno to give

voice and mumble to those archaic stills, testing the functionality of identical

experimental apparatuses, can only be warmly applauded.

Belgiorno M.R. 2017, Behind distillation, De Strobel, Nicosia. Dietler M. 2006, Alcohol: Anthropological/Archaeological perspectives,

Ann. Rev. Anthrop., 35: 229-49. Fairley T. 1907, The Early history of distillation, J. Inst. Brewing, 13: 559-82. Forbes R.J. 1948, A short history of the art of distillation, E.J. Brill, Leiden. Gwei-Djen L. et al. 1972, The coming of ardent water, Ambix, 19: 69-112. Liebmann A.J. 1956, History of distillation, J. Chem. Ed., 33: 166-73. Liu L. Et al. 2018, Fermented beverage and food storage in 13,000 y-old

stone mortars at Raqefet Cave, Israel: investigating Natufian ritual feasting, J. Arch. Sci. Rep., 21: 783-93.

Morewood S. 1824, An essay on the inventions and customs of both ancients and moderns in the use of inebriating liquors..., Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, London.

Samorini G. 2017, Archeologia delle piante inebrianti, Youcanprint, Tricase Lecce. Samorini G. 2018, Il pulque. Dalle origini ai periodi coloniali, Youcanprint,

Tricase Lecce. Wilson C.A. 1998, Pythagorean theory and Dionysian practice: the cultic and

practical background to chemical experimentation in Hellenistic Egypt, Ambix, 45:14-33.

----------------------------

Giorgio Samorini was born in Bologna in 1957, is an ethnobotanical scholar specialized in the traditional use of intoxicating plants. He has conducted field surveys with ethnic groups in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals and several books, including Mythology of inebriating plants (2016) and Archaeology of inebriating plants (2017).

Behind distillation

19

BEHIND DISTILLATION - EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY

1 - Tepe Gawra and the spread of its channel jar

to Slovakia, Sardinia and Cyprus

1. – Introductive notes

1.1 -Behind Distillation and Experimental Archaeology

The evidence gathered in writing Behind Distillation did not fully satisfy my

curiosity and obviously did not stop the search for more information and

details about the different distillation systems that, since ancient times, have

been used in different parts of the world and are still part of the cultural

heritage of the local folk traditions. What has undoubtedly emerged from my

first research is that distillation is a very ancient art known all over the world

for many centuries before someone decided to fix its parameters and

functions.

It was born regardless of and before the invention of ceramics, for which I

consider the equation valid that the need to distil created the so-called

alembic, and not the other way around. Therefore, denying that distillation

was historically born only after the circulation of the so-called domed alembic

heads arbitrarily claimed as an Arab invention.

The extraordinary amount of documentation related to distilling practices

carried out today using barrels and wooden accessories, simple perforated

vases with marsh and bamboo canes, coatings of banana leaves, ditches dug

into the ground, hot stones buried along with various plants, column formed

assembling elements of stone , pottery and wood, by agricultural and nomadic

populations that do not know the so-called domed alembic, it takes us back

in time, to bear witness to a tradition and ancient knowledge that nobody

should ignore.


20

After all, the various equipment we find in the different countries is itself

evidence of a different path that began individually, without following the

suggestions of other cultures, or coming from the European and

Mediterranean area that should have communicated the distillation technique

in chronological terms.

So much so, that at the same time as the invention of the domed alembic

head in the Mediterranean, China was distilling in a totally different way, as

well as Mongolia and India, while alternative techniques had been known for

centuries in Central and South America.

Although it is obviously superfluous to carry out distillation experiments

using objects and systems still in use, well known and documented in rural

areas, since their existence is often ignored in the treatises concerning

distillation, we considered it appropriate to include some of these in our

experimental journey. Perhaps they belong to the prehistory of distillation of

which the alchemists and erudite West seek in vain to erase the memory.

Obviously, the experimentation that concerns them is part of the second

step of our project. Another aspect that we must consider, before carrying

out distillation experiments with ancient apparatuses, concerns the product

that regards the use of this technique. Also, in this case we have to ponder

the current use: i.e. for what we use distillation in the agricultural and private

sectors, obviously excluding industrial uses. In this regard, apart from the

production of chemical compounds that affect a completely different

cognitive sphere, we discover that the distillation is mainly used in the

production of alcohol and alcoholic beverages and in the production of

aromatic waters and essential oils.

Of course, one of the first questions concerns the difference in smell and

taste of distillates produced in ceramic vessels, even if the specimens used in

the process are more or less comparable with the metal apparatuses mainly

used today. And we wonder about the difference in terms of quality,

Behind distillation

21

conservation and safety, including an essence produced in a copper still from

that produced in a ceramic apparatus.

Moreover, we cannot and must not therefore seek a precise differentiation

on equipment intended to produce alcoholic beverages or fragrances, as it

seems clear that there has never been any. On the contrary, it is possible that

the promiscuity of the employment facilitated the mixing of materials

towards the production of pharmaceutical compounds. So, we have a wide

choice regarding the materials that we can use in testing the equipment.

The ingredients that we used in the tests are not therefore identifying the real

use of these devices, for which the debate remains open, therefore our choice

will remain in the natural environment and biodiversity of the place to which

the equipment belongs.

We refer above all to the archaeological context and to the associated material

that can be more indicative about the destination of the specimens found.

Most of the objects associated with the distillation were found in domestic

environments at Tepe Gawra, Slovakia and Sardinia, some in the tombs, like

in Cyprus. They were all found in fragments but have since been restored.

The chronology spans 3000 years, from the end of the fifth millennium BC

to the end of the second millennium BC.


22

1.2 -Protocol of Experimental Archaeology of

The Perfume Theme Park Museum:

1.2.1 -Introduction to the protocol:

- It is obviously impossible the use of chemical “reverse engineering” to

remake the ancient perfumes, however a correct protocol of experimental

archaeology may reveal much information about the knowledge, process, and

philosophy regarding the production of something that still today has a

primary importance in human life and around which a turnover of

incalculable value moves.

- Considering that a protocol of experimental archaeology is valid when it

respects the archaeological original parameters on which the hypothesis has

been made, regarding materials, the archaeological context, the geographical

location and social environment, our protocol regards the evolution of the

techniques to produce perfumes in ancient circum-Mediterranean cultures,

in BC time, including maceration, effleurage of animal and vegetable fats,

distillation, and binary employ of different techniques.

1.2.2 -Aim

The aim of the protocol is not simply to demonstrate that it is possible to

produce perfumes following the ancient recipes and using replica

apparatuses, but to experiment with various organic materials (plants) which

have been utilized in the production of ointments, essential oils, hydrosol and

oil perfumes. Specifically, to learn how different objects/apparatuses and

different plants responded in the production and preserving of fragrances.

How many people and what time factors were involved in the various stages

of manufacture, considering the causality, knowledge and cultural heritage in

terms of evolution of the different technologies.

Behind distillation

23

1.2.3 -The experimental archaeology steps:

1 -Converting hypothesis into a verifiable form

2 -Selecting the experimental materials

3 -Operating with the objective and effective materials

4 -Observing the results of the experiment

5 -Interpreting the results of the experiments in different inferences.

1.2.4 -The investigative parameters of each case include:

1 -The recognition of the archaeological and historical data

2 -The formulation of an indicative inference

3 -The distinction of convincing data

4 -The formulation of a probable interpretation

1.2.5 -Archaeological evidence:

For implements and apparatuses five orders of evidence are considered:

1- Formal properties size and typology.

2- Analogy with objects coming from similar environment,

contemporary situation and geographic area

3- Skeuomorphism with more recent and modern objects used for the

same purpose

4- Limitations imposed by the formal properties for a possible different

use

5- Social involvement and cultural evolution of the people that

produced and used fragrances.


24

1.2.6 -An example of the methodology applied to each case.

- Indicative data: the alembic of Pyrgos is composed of four pieces.

- Indicative conclusion: the apparatus was used for distillation

- Probative data: the four pieces of pottery match together

- The form is almost identical to apparatus still used in India

- India apparatus is extensively used for distillation of fragrant

plants and flowers

- Probabilistic inference: the Pyrgos’ apparatus is a primitive

alembic for distillation.

- The experimental replica proof demonstrates it is really an

apparatus for distillation.

1.2.7 -Conclusion

- We hope that from the result of the comparative study it will be

possible to understand if the technological process put in place is the

one used in the past. In the impossibility of having direct testimonies,

these results can be considered plausible proofs of the hypotheses

formulated.

- From the same results, the social aspects and the commercial

implications on which much of the current academic discussion is

running can be assessed through historical comparisons.

- For each of these cases of study, we will give a vote of credibility,

between one and five, to compare with the experimental parameters

used to make the text and equate the differences.

Behind distillation

107

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Documents

Tepe Gawra corretto 4 - Giorgio Samorinicoming from the citadel, miniature example n°407 from a grave 42 14: Tapputi-Belate Kallim tablet 43 15: Drawings of Late Ubaid type of channel