From Jens Glastrup's laboratory notebook:

Nicotine in a 2000 year old pot from Fyn

This is an account of an analysis of organic residue found in an earthenware pot excavated on the Danish island of Fyn (Bukkerup Langemose FOH 7504x20 and 46, our job number 1932) and last used at some time around the year 0 AD.

The pot contains a residue that resembles a dried out fermented liquid. The archaeologist describes the pot as probably containing a ritual, sacrificial drink.

The residue was analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. It contains palmitic and stearic acids and various sugar carbohydrates. There is also b-siterol, which together with the absence of cholesterol suggests that the pot has only been used for plant material.

A surprising discovery is the presence of nicotine. Through an unfortunate accident it proved possible to confirm that this substance was present in the porous body of the pot, and was not therefore a spurious addition to the rough pleasures of iron age man, contributed by a pipe smoking archaeologist.

Nicotine is only known to occur in Denmark in two species of horsetail: Equisetum arvense, L and E. hyemale L.2 These plants are known to have been used in medicine in the middle ages.

Comments and queries to Jens at bev-jg@brede.natmus.min.dk