Material of Interest: Bitumen
Sunday October 28, 2007
Bitumen is a naturally occurring substance, a black, oily or viscous goo or liquid
derived from organic matter, that is best known as the main tourist attraction at La Brea tar pits. Tourists visiting California unfailingly comment on the strong odor of the place, before and after they visit the Page Museum.
It turns out, however, that bitumen was used in all kinds of interesting ways in the prehistoric and historic past, as water proofing, glue, building mortar, incense (!), and decorative application on pots and walls and stone tools and other things all over the world, at sites such as Tell el-'Oueili (Iraq, Mesopotamia) and Mehrgarh (Pakistan, Harappa) and as long ago as 40,000 years at the sites of Hummal and Umm El Tlel in Syria. That is why the lovely stinky stuff is our Material of Interest this week, so pick a link below and learn more about it.
It turns out, however, that bitumen was used in all kinds of interesting ways in the prehistoric and historic past, as water proofing, glue, building mortar, incense (!), and decorative application on pots and walls and stone tools and other things all over the world, at sites such as Tell el-'Oueili (Iraq, Mesopotamia) and Mehrgarh (Pakistan, Harappa) and as long ago as 40,000 years at the sites of Hummal and Umm El Tlel in Syria. That is why the lovely stinky stuff is our Material of Interest this week, so pick a link below and learn more about it.
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