Helsingin Sanomat - British student finds Neolithic chewing gum in Northern Finland

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British student finds Neolithic chewing gum in Northern Finland

What is believed to be a 5,000-year-old piece of chewing gum has been found in Finland by a British archaeology student, Sarah Pickin, the BBC reported on Monday. The gum Sarah Pickin found in July was a lump of birch bark tar, showing well-defined tooth imprints. In the Neolithic period the material was used for dental hygiene, as an antiseptic, or as a glue.

Patrik Franzén from the Kierikki Centre in Finland says that such a gum is not really a very rare find. He notes further that the fragment of an amber ring Pickin found is ultimately of greater interest and value, because it implies that the Neolithic people living in the area had international connections. According to scientists, amber was transported from the Baltic coast as payment for some merchandise in the Neolithic period.