Did Teenage Girls Chew Gum 10,000 Years Ago? Traces Found on 'This Tree' in Estonia

Prehistoric "Gum Piece" Featured in British Documentary
10,500-Year-Old Artifact Analyzed by Estonian University
"Ancient Northern Europeans May Not Have Had Blonde Hair and Blue Eyes"

A piece of gum chewed by a prehistoric teenage girl has been discovered in Estonia. According to Yonhap News on the 23rd (local time), citing the British daily The Guardian, the Institute of History and Archaeology at the University of Tartu in Estonia found tooth marks and traces of saliva on birch tar from the Stone Age, dating back 10,500 years. After extracting and analyzing DNA from the saliva traces, the research team found that the tar was likely chewed by a teenage girl with brown hair and brown eyes.

The documentary "Bethany Hughes' Treasures of the World," aired on Channel 4 in the UK, introduced a piece of gum chewed by a prehistoric teenage girl. Channel 4

The findings were introduced in the episode "Hidden Estonia: Land of Fire and Ice" of the documentary "Bethany Hughes' Treasures of the World," which aired the previous day on Channel 4 in the UK.

Bethany Hughes, the host of the documentary and a British historian, emphasized, "This research shows how a single discarded object can connect us with people of the past," and added, "We now know that people chewed tar either to relieve toothaches or to use it as an adhesive." She also remarked, "The results challenge the assumption that ancient Northern Europeans had blonde hair and blue eyes," calling it "important and surprising."

The documentary also featured other historical artifacts from across Estonia that the University of Tartu is analyzing. The university was examining an 800-year-old metal cross, shaped like female genitalia and designed to make noise when worn. Professor Heiki Valk explained in an interview with Hughes, "This artifact shows the process by which medieval Estonians integrated the pagan symbol of fertility with the new Christian faith," and added, "It makes an incredible sound when worn."

Hughes also personally examined artifacts from the remains of a woman discovered in a 12th-century cemetery in the village of Kukruse, Estonia. According to the documentary, the woman was in her fifties at the time of death, and luxury bronze and silver ornaments, food for the afterlife, a sieve, a dagger, and altered bird eggs were buried with her.

In an interview with Hughes, archaeologist Dr. Ester Oras, who analyzed the eggshells, explained, "Someone decided that this woman should take altered eggs into the grave," and added, "Perhaps the symbolism of Christianity is related to the alteration."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.