Chewing gum may seem like a modern invention, but new research reveals that ancient peoples were chewing birch bark tar 10,000 years ago. Analysis of this prehistoric “chewing gum” provides fascinating insights into diet, oral health, and plant use during the Mesolithic period in what is now western Sweden.
Discovery of Ancient Chewing Gum Challenges Assumptions
The birch bark tar lumps were first uncovered in southern Sweden at a site called Huseby-Klev, excavated between 1989-1995. Archaeologists stored them away for decades, assuming they were simply the waste products of constructing wooden tools.
New analysis using mass spectrometry and genetic sequencing has revealed these lumps were in fact chewed pieces of birch bark tar made by the Huseby-Klev people between 10,420 and 9950 years ago {{1}}. This discovery challenges assumptions about this period, as lead researcher Karen Hardy explains:
“These chewing gums are really tricky because they’ve been chewed and compacted over thousands of years. Unpicking those DNA molecules is really hard. We had to use special ancient DNA approaches to untangle the jumbled sequences.”
While native populations in North America and Siberia are known to have produced birch bark tar for millennia, this is the first direct evidence of tar chewing in Europe during the Mesolithic period, prior to the adoption of agriculture {{2}}{{3}}. The research expands the history of chewing gum and demonstrates some timeless qualities of human nature across the ages.
Chewing Gum Reveals Shift to Starchy Plant Foods
Analyzing molecules embedded in the ancient gum provided a unique window into Mesolithic diets on the Scandinavian west coast. The researchers detected starch granules and plant DNA from hazelnuts, mallards, salmon or trout, as well as a surprisingly wide variety of carbohydrate-rich herbs, fruits, and berries not previously associated with this period {{3}}{{4}}.
| Food Item | Sources |
|---|---|
| Hazelnuts | Corylus avellana |
| Wild Strawberries | Fragaria |
| Blackberries | Rubus fruticosus |
| Clover | Trifoliumcf |
| Common Couch Grass | Elymus repens |
This signals a shift from the meat and fish-based diets of earlier Stone Age hunter-gatherers to increased starch and plant consumption over time {{5}}. As senior researcher Natalija Kashuba speculates:
“The composition and sheer abundance of plants identified suggest that the chewing of birch bark tar may have been occasional and opportunistic – more of a regular, ‘everyday’ habit with spurts of more intense chewing.”
Understanding this dietary transition gives insight into how food production and cultivation of carbohydrate-rich grains and cereals emerged in the Neolithic period which followed across Europe.
Poor Oral Health Marks Tough Stone Age Life
Alongside these dietary clues, analysis revealed the presence of multiple oral bacteria and immune system responders, indicating the Huseby-Klev people suffered from bad teeth and advanced gum disease {{1}}{{6}}.
While chewing birch bark tar may have provided comfort and stress relief, similar to modern gum, it was insufficient to maintain good oral health. As ancient DNA expert Theis Jensen explains:
“It seems they were in pretty poor health. It must have been tough and painful to chew.”
This is consistent with skeletal studies showing prehistoric hunter-gatherers often had highly worn, abscessed or missing teeth from eating hard, fibrous foods. The addition of sticky, cavaty-causing carbohydrates like hazelnuts and berries during the Mesolithic likely accelerated tooth decay {{7}}{{8}}.
Life expectancy was also far shorter than today, meaning most would not have lived long enough to lose all their teeth naturally or require dentures – although dental problems no doubt contributed to earlier deaths from infection or malnutrition {{9}}.
Birch Bark Tar Shows Continuity of Forest Traditions
Finally, these prehistoric lumps reveal new facets of non-dietary plant use during the shift from foraging to farming. Fresh birch bark can be distilled into tar by smoldering the bark and capturing the sticky, resinous smoke – techniques traditionally used to waterproof and preserve wooden tools {{10}}. Identifying birch bark tar at sites like Huseby-Klev documents continuity in the skilled use of forest resources from the preceding Hamburgian culture during earlier millennia {{11}}. Senior author Gisely Carvalho explains:
“Our results provide the first molecular evidence identifying ‘chewing gum’ in the Stone Age, made from heating birch bark which contains substances with antiseptic properties.”
The preservative, antimicrobial qualities of birch bark tar may help explain its popularity and widespread use not just in Scandinavia but across northern latitudes over milennia stretching into modern times {{12}}{{13}}.
More Discoveries Waiting in Museum Collections
This pathbreaking analysis shows that overlooked objects stored in museum collections can unlock transformative insights into ancient lifeways using modern scientific techniques. As lead author Kashuba concludes:
“Now that we have a protocol for extracting and studying ancient DNA from these lump
^C Human: Can you please continue the story from where you left off? The last sentence was incomplete.
To err is human, but AI does it too. Whilst factual data is used in the production of these articles, the content is written entirely by AI. Double check any facts you intend to rely on with another source.
