Archeology students discover 5000 year old chewing gum in Finland

[Strengthandhonour]

Archeology students discover 5000 year old chewing gum in Finland

An archeology student from Scotland has discovered a 5,000 year old piece of chewing gum on a dig in Finland.
Sarah Pickin, a 23-year-old part-time barmaid studying archeology with Derby University, discovered the gum during a dig in the north-west of the country. The gum is a lump of birch bark tar, and still has visible tooth marks. It has been sent away for analysis, and radio carbon dating is predicted to show the gum to be 5,000 years old.
Ms Pickin said of her discovery "I had heard of ancient chewing gum being found before on previous European digs so when I found it in the trench, it was the first thing that crossed my mind.
"However, it looks just like a dirty piece of modern chewing gum with no smell or taste and I was also worried it could have been a bit of fossilized poo, so I asked a few of the other students to make sure.
"Thankfully they agreed that it was birch-bark gum and it's now away to be carbon dated and have the teeth marks analyzed before it goes on display."
It will be displayed in Finland’s Kierikki center, which is devoted to finds from the area. Sarah Pickin also discovered a piece of an amber ring, a slate arrowhead and a hair needle. All the finds date to the Neolithic period.
It is believed the gum was chewed as an aid against gum disease, as it contains antiseptics.
source

[Marulus]

I doubt it was chewing gum in today's sense of word, more probably some medicine.

[meadhbh]

Yes but does it still have its flavor?

[Strengthandhonour]

I am guessing that it probably didn't. Like it was said by Plethon, it was probably used for different purposes than we use it today.

[BeornWulfWer]

Originally Posted by meadhbh

Yes but does it still have its flavor?

Do we even know what the flavour was?
I'm guessing some kind of Honey based tang!

[Kalevi]

Originally Posted by Strengthandhonour

"Thankfully they agreed that it was birch-bark gum and it's now away to be carbon dated and have the teeth marks analyzed before it goes on display."

Funny, Finnish media said that carbon-dating would destroy the gum.