A Look into Ancient Apothecaries.

Alain Touwaide will present a seminar for the Smithsonian Resident Associates on July 18, 2011. During the seminar, he will discuss the results of laboratory tests—including DNA sequencing—of ancient medicines recovered from archaeological remains in the Mediterranean. His latest findings are from a 130 B.C. shipwreck off the coast of Tuscany that contained a dried mixture of a dozen medicinal herbs. Touwaide examines ancient Greek, Latin, and Arabic texts, including those by Dioscorides and his Roman successor, Galen, which describe materials and how they should be ground, mixed, prepared, and used.