Experts from the University of Oxford found evidence of cabbage from 2,900 years ago.
Researchers have extracted ancient plant DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick.
The brick, from the ancient city of Kalhu in Iraq, would have been made primarily of mud and mixed with chaff, straw or animal dung.The samples were taken during a project at the National Museum of Denmark in 2020, using a method previously used for other porous materials, such as bone.Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen said the method used to extract the DNA could be used on other artefacts
Researchers said the fact the brick was never burned, but left to dry naturally, would have helped to preserve the genetic material trapped within the clay. The writing on the brick reads: "The property of the palace of Ashurnasirpal, king of Assyria" and experts believe it was from the king's palace.
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