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Birch tar

April 12, 2024

Birch (bark) tar or birch pitch is a substance (liquid when heated) derived from the dry distillation of the bark of the birch tree.

Birch bark pitch made in a single pot: The birch bark is heated under airtight conditions, the final product consists of tar and the ashes of the bark.
Modern way of producing birch bark tar in a single pot: the birch bark is heated under airtight conditions; the final product consists of tar and the ashes of the bark.

Chemical composition edit

Birch tar/pitch is mainly composed of triterpenoid compounds of the lupane and oleanane family, which can be used as biomarkers to identify birch tar in the archaeological record. The most characteristic molecules are betulin and lupeol which are also present in birch bark.[1][2] Some of these molecules degrade into other lupane and oleanane skeleton triperpenes. The most commonly found additional molecules are lupenone, betulone, lupa-2,20(29)-dien-28-ol, lupa-2,20(29)-diene and allobetulin.[3][4][5]

Ancient and modern uses edit

Birch tar was used widely as an adhesive as early as the Middle Paleolithic to early Mesolithic era. Neanderthals produced tar through the dry distillation of birch bark as early as 200,000 years ago.[6] A study from 2019 showed that birch tar production can be a very simple process, merely involving the burning of birch bark near smooth vertical surfaces in open air conditions.[7] However, at Königsaue (Germany), Neanderthals did not make tar with this method but rather employed a technically more demanding underground production method.[8] A find from the Dutch North Sea[9] and two tools from the Italian site Campitello show that Neanderthals used birch tar as a backing on small 'domestic' stone tools.

Birch tar also has been used as a disinfectant, in leather dressing, and in medicine.[citation needed]

A piece of 5,000-year-old chewing gum made from birch bark tar and still bearing tooth imprints, has been found in Kierikki in Finland.[10] Genetic material retained in the gum has enabled novel research regarding population movements, the types of foods consumed, and the types of bacteria found on their teeth.[11]

A different chewing gum sample, dated to 5,700 years old, was found in southern Denmark. A complete human genome and oral microbiome was sequenced from the chewed birch pitch. Researchers identified that the individual who chewed the pitch was a female closely related genetically to hunter-gatherers from mainland Europe.[12]

Ends of fletching of arrows were fastened with birch-tar and birch-tar-and-rawhide lashings were used to fix the blade of axes in the Mesolithic period.

Birch tar was more frequently discovered in archaeological contexts dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. For example, birch tar was identified to serve as an adhesive to repair[13][14][15][16] and decorate/paint ceramic vessels,[17] as a sealing/waterproofing agent.[18][19] A well-known example of birch tar hafting during the copper age is Ötzi’s hafted arrow points and copper axe.[20] Multiple discoveries show that birch tar was also used to assemble metal artefacts, such as pendants and other ornaments, on both a functional and decorative level.[21][22] During the Roman Era, birch tar is mostly replaced by wood tar,[23][24] but birch tar is still used, for example, to decorate hinges and other bone objects.[25]

Russia leather is a water-resistant leather, oiled with birch oil after tanning. This leather was a major export good from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Russia, as the availability of birch oil limited its geographical production.[26] The oil impregnation also deterred insect attack and gave a distinctive and pleasant aroma that was seen as a mark of quality in leather.

Birch tar is also one of the components of Vishnevsky liniment.[27]

Birch tar oil is an effective repellent of gastropods.[28] The repellent effect lasts about two weeks.[28] The repellent effect of birch tar oil mixed with petroleum jelly applied to a fence lasts up to several months.[28]

Birch tar oil has strong antiseptic properties[29] owing to a large amount of phenol derivatives and terpenoid derivatives.

Birch tar oil was used in the eighteenth century alongside civet and castoreum and many other aromatic substances to scent the fine Spanish leather Peau d'Espagne. At the turn of the twentieth century, birch tar has become a specialty fragrance material in perfumery as a base note to impart a leathery, smoky note in fragrances, especially from the leather and tobacco genre, and to a lesser extent in Chypres, especially Cuir de Russie perfumes and fragrance bases, typically together with castoreum and isobutyl quinoline. It is used as an ingredient in some soaps, i.e. the scent of Imperial Leather soap, though other tars (i.e. from pine, coal) with an equally phenolic and smoky odour are more commonly used in soaps as a medicating agent.

References edit

  1. ^ Hayek, E.W.H., Jordis, U., Moche, W., Sauter, F., 1989. A bicentennial of betulin. Phytochemistry. 28, 2229–2242.
  2. ^ Hayek, E.W.H., Krenmayr, P., Lohninger, H., 1990. Identification of Archaeological and Recent Wood Tar Pitches Using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry and Pattern Recognition.
  3. ^ Aveling, E., Heron, C., 1998. Identification of Birch Bark Tar at the Mesolithic Site of Star Carr. Ancient Biomolecules. 2.
  4. ^ Regert, M., 2004. Investigating the history of prehistoric glues by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. journal of separation science. 27, 244–254.
  5. ^ Rageot, M., 2015. Les substances naturelles en Méditerranée nord-occidentale (VIe-Ie Millénaire BCE) : chimie et archéologie des matériaux exploités pour leurs propriétés adhésives et hydrophobes (Doctorat). Université Nice Sophia Antipolis.
  6. ^ Kozowyk, P. R. B.; Soressi, M.; Pomstra, D.; Langejans, G. H. J. (2017-08-31). "Experimental methods for the Palaeolithic dry distillation of birch bark: implications for the origin and development of Neandertal adhesive technology". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 8033. Bibcode:2017NatSR...7.8033K. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08106-7. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5579016. PMID 28860591.
  7. ^ Schmidt, P.; Blessing, M.; Rageot, M.; Iovita, R.; Pfleging, J.; Nickel, K. G.; Righetti, L. & Tennie, C. (2019). "Birch tar extraction does not prove Neanderthal behavioral complexity". PNAS. 116 (36): 17707–17711. doi:10.1073/pnas.1911137116. PMC 6731756. PMID 31427508.
  8. ^ Schmidt, P.; Koch, T.; Blessing, M.; Karakostis, F.A.; Harvati, K.; Dresely, V. & Charrié-Duhaut, A. (2023). "Production method of the Königsaue birch tar documents cumulative culture in Neanderthals". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 15 (6): 84. doi:10.1007/s12520-023-01789-2. PMC 10202989. PMID 37228449.
  9. ^ Niekus, Marcel J. L. Th.; Kozowyk, Paul R. B.; Langejans, Geeske H. J.; Ngan-Tillard, Dominique; van Keulen, Henk; van der Plicht, Johannes; Cohen, Kim M.; van Wingerden, Willy; van Os, Bertil; Smit, Bjørn I.; Amkreutz, Luc W. S. W. (2019-10-21). "Middle Paleolithic complex technology and a Neandertal tar-backed tool from the Dutch North Sea". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (44): 22081–22087. Bibcode:2019PNAS..11622081N. doi:10.1073/pnas.1907828116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6825292. PMID 31636186.
  10. ^ "Student dig unearths ancient gum, 2007". 20 August 2007.
  11. ^ Ancient gum DNA, Science, The New York Times, December 17, 2019
  12. ^ Jensen, Theis Z. T.; Niemann, Jonas; Iversen, Katrine Højholt; Fotakis, Anna K.; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Vågene, Åshild J.; Pedersen, Mikkel Winther; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S.; Ellegaard, Martin R.; Allentoft, Morten E.; Lanigan, Liam T. (2019-12-17). "A 5700 year-old human genome and oral microbiome from chewed birch pitch". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 5520. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.5520J. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13549-9. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6917805. PMID 31848342.
  13. ^ Bosquet, D., Regert, M., DUBOIS, N., Jadin, I., 2001. Identification de brai de bouleau sur quatre vases du site rubané de Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher «Podrî l’Cortri». Premiers résultats.
  14. ^ Urem-Kotsou, D., Mitkidou, S., Dimitrakoudi, E., Kokkinos, N., Ntinou, M., 2018. Following their tears: Production and use of plant exudates in the Neolithic of North Aegean and the Balkans. Quaternary International. 496, 68–79.
  15. ^ Urem-Kotsou, D., Stern, B., Heron, C., Kotsakis, K., 2002. Birch-bark tar at Neolithic Makriyalos, Greece. Antiquity. 76, 962–967.
  16. ^ Rageot, M., Lepère, C., Henry, A., Binder, D., Davtian, G., Filippi, J.-J., Fernandez, X., Guilaine, J., Jallet, F., Radi, G., Thirault, E., Terradas, X., Regert, M., 2021. Management systems of adhesive materials throughout the Neolithic in the North-West Mediterranean. Journal of Archaeological Science. 126, 105309.
  17. ^ Morandi, L.F., Porta, S.N., Ribechini, E., 2018. Evidence for Birch Bark Tar Use as an Adhesive and Decorative Element in Early Iron Age Central Italy: Technological and Socio-Economic Implications. Archaeometry. 60, 1077–1087.
  18. ^ Hayek, E.W.H., Krenmayr, P., Lohninger, H., 1990. Identification of Archaeological and Recent Wood Tar Pitches Using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry and Pattern Recognition.
  19. ^ Regert, M., Vacher, S., Moulherat, C., Decavallas, O., 2003. Adhesive Production and Pottery Function During the Iron Age at the Site of Grand Aunay (Sarthe, France)*. Archaeometry. 45, 101–120.
  20. ^ Sauter, F., Ulrich, J., Graf, A., Werther, W., Varmuza, K., 2000. Studies in organic archaeometry I: identification of the prehistoric adhesive used by "Tyrolean Icemen" to fix his weapons. Arkivoc. V, 735–747.
  21. ^ Regert, M., Rolando, C., 2002. Identification of Archaeological Adhesives Using Direct Inlet Electron Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Analytical chemistry. 74, 965–75.
  22. ^ Courel, B., Schaeffer, P., Féliu, C., Thomas, Y., Adam, P., 2018. Birch bark tar and jewellery: The case study of a necklace from the Iron Age (Eckwersheim, NE France). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 20, 72–79.
  23. ^ Balsan, L., 1951. L’industrie de la résine dans les Causses et son extension dans l’empire romain. Gallia. 9, 53–55.
  24. ^ Trintignac, A., 2003. La production de poix dans la cité des gabales (Lozère) à l’époque gallo-romaine. RAP. n°1/2, 239–248.
  25. ^ Regert, M., Rodet-Belarbi, I., Mazuy, A., Dantec, G., Dessì, R.M., Henry, A., Rageot, M., Briz, S., 2019. Birch bark tar in the Roman world: the persistence of an ancient craft tradition. Antiquity. 93.
  26. ^ (PDF). The Honourable Cordwainers' Company. 1807. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  27. ^ Charman, C. (12 June 1999). "Vishnevsky liniment and ichthammol: on the perspectives of application in military medicine and other fields". The BMJ. 318 (7198): 1600–1604. doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7198.1600. PMC 1115970. PMID 10364122.
  28. ^ a b c Lindqvist, I.; Lindqvist, B.; Tiilikkala, K.; Hagner, M.; Penttinen, O.-P.; Pasanen, T.; Setälä, H. (2010). "Birch tar oil is an effective mollusc repellent: field and laboratory experiments using Arianta arbustorum (Gastropoda: Helicidae) and Arion lusitanicus (Gastropoda: Arionidae)". Agricultural and Food Science. 19 (1): 1–12. doi:10.2137/145960610791015050.
  29. ^ Wanamaker, L, "Birch Tar Oil A Powerful Antiseptic", OtzisPouch, 2020-04-01

External links edit

  • Non-video demonstration
  • Treating Leather With Birch Tar

April 12, 2024
birch, birch, bark, birch, pitch, substance, liquid, when, heated, derived, from, distillation, bark, birch, tree, birch, bark, pitch, made, single, birch, bark, heated, under, airtight, conditions, final, product, consists, ashes, bark, modern, producing, bir. Birch bark tar or birch pitch is a substance liquid when heated derived from the dry distillation of the bark of the birch tree Birch bark pitch made in a single pot The birch bark is heated under airtight conditions the final product consists of tar and the ashes of the bark Modern way of producing birch bark tar in a single pot the birch bark is heated under airtight conditions the final product consists of tar and the ashes of the bark Contents 1 Chemical composition 2 Ancient and modern uses 3 References 4 External linksChemical composition editBirch tar pitch is mainly composed of triterpenoid compounds of the lupane and oleanane family which can be used as biomarkers to identify birch tar in the archaeological record The most characteristic molecules are betulin and lupeol which are also present in birch bark 1 2 Some of these molecules degrade into other lupane and oleanane skeleton triperpenes The most commonly found additional molecules are lupenone betulone lupa 2 20 29 dien 28 ol lupa 2 20 29 diene and allobetulin 3 4 5 Ancient and modern uses editBirch tar was used widely as an adhesive as early as the Middle Paleolithic to early Mesolithic era Neanderthals produced tar through the dry distillation of birch bark as early as 200 000 years ago 6 A study from 2019 showed that birch tar production can be a very simple process merely involving the burning of birch bark near smooth vertical surfaces in open air conditions 7 However at Konigsaue Germany Neanderthals did not make tar with this method but rather employed a technically more demanding underground production method 8 A find from the Dutch North Sea 9 and two tools from the Italian site Campitello show that Neanderthals used birch tar as a backing on small domestic stone tools Birch tar also has been used as a disinfectant in leather dressing and in medicine citation needed A piece of 5 000 year old chewing gum made from birch bark tar and still bearing tooth imprints has been found in Kierikki in Finland 10 Genetic material retained in the gum has enabled novel research regarding population movements the types of foods consumed and the types of bacteria found on their teeth 11 A different chewing gum sample dated to 5 700 years old was found in southern Denmark A complete human genome and oral microbiome was sequenced from the chewed birch pitch Researchers identified that the individual who chewed the pitch was a female closely related genetically to hunter gatherers from mainland Europe 12 Ends of fletching of arrows were fastened with birch tar and birch tar and rawhide lashings were used to fix the blade of axes in the Mesolithic period Birch tar was more frequently discovered in archaeological contexts dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age For example birch tar was identified to serve as an adhesive to repair 13 14 15 16 and decorate paint ceramic vessels 17 as a sealing waterproofing agent 18 19 A well known example of birch tar hafting during the copper age is Otzi s hafted arrow points and copper axe 20 Multiple discoveries show that birch tar was also used to assemble metal artefacts such as pendants and other ornaments on both a functional and decorative level 21 22 During the Roman Era birch tar is mostly replaced by wood tar 23 24 but birch tar is still used for example to decorate hinges and other bone objects 25 Russia leather is a water resistant leather oiled with birch oil after tanning This leather was a major export good from seventeenth and eighteenth century Russia as the availability of birch oil limited its geographical production 26 The oil impregnation also deterred insect attack and gave a distinctive and pleasant aroma that was seen as a mark of quality in leather Birch tar is also one of the components of Vishnevsky liniment 27 Birch tar oil is an effective repellent of gastropods 28 The repellent effect lasts about two weeks 28 The repellent effect of birch tar oil mixed with petroleum jelly applied to a fence lasts up to several months 28 Birch tar oil has strong antiseptic properties 29 owing to a large amount of phenol derivatives and terpenoid derivatives Birch tar oil was used in the eighteenth century alongside civet and castoreum and many other aromatic substances to scent the fine Spanish leather Peau d Espagne At the turn of the twentieth century birch tar has become a specialty fragrance material in perfumery as a base note to impart a leathery smoky note in fragrances especially from the leather and tobacco genre and to a lesser extent in Chypres especially Cuir de Russie perfumes and fragrance bases typically together with castoreum and isobutyl quinoline It is used as an ingredient in some soaps i e the scent of Imperial Leather soap though other tars i e from pine coal with an equally phenolic and smoky odour are more commonly used in soaps as a medicating agent References edit Hayek E W H Jordis U Moche W Sauter F 1989 A bicentennial of betulin Phytochemistry 28 2229 2242 Hayek E W H Krenmayr P Lohninger H 1990 Identification of Archaeological and Recent Wood Tar Pitches Using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and Pattern Recognition Aveling E Heron C 1998 Identification of Birch Bark Tar at the Mesolithic Site of Star Carr Ancient Biomolecules 2 Regert M 2004 Investigating the history of prehistoric glues by gas chromatography mass spectrometry journal of separation science 27 244 254 Rageot M 2015 Les substances naturelles en Mediterranee nord occidentale VIe Ie Millenaire BCE chimie et archeologie des materiaux exploites pour leurs proprietes adhesives et hydrophobes Doctorat Universite Nice Sophia Antipolis Kozowyk P R B Soressi M Pomstra D Langejans G H J 2017 08 31 Experimental methods for the Palaeolithic dry distillation of birch bark implications for the origin and development of Neandertal adhesive technology Scientific Reports 7 1 8033 Bibcode 2017NatSR 7 8033K doi 10 1038 s41598 017 08106 7 ISSN 2045 2322 PMC 5579016 PMID 28860591 Schmidt P Blessing M Rageot M Iovita R Pfleging J Nickel K G Righetti L amp Tennie C 2019 Birch tar extraction does not prove Neanderthal behavioral complexity PNAS 116 36 17707 17711 doi 10 1073 pnas 1911137116 PMC 6731756 PMID 31427508 Schmidt P Koch T Blessing M Karakostis F A Harvati K Dresely V amp Charrie Duhaut A 2023 Production method of the Konigsaue birch tar documents cumulative culture in Neanderthals Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15 6 84 doi 10 1007 s12520 023 01789 2 PMC 10202989 PMID 37228449 Niekus Marcel J L Th Kozowyk Paul R B Langejans Geeske H J Ngan Tillard Dominique van Keulen Henk van der Plicht Johannes Cohen Kim M van Wingerden Willy van Os Bertil Smit Bjorn I Amkreutz Luc W S W 2019 10 21 Middle Paleolithic complex technology and a Neandertal tar backed tool from the Dutch North Sea Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 44 22081 22087 Bibcode 2019PNAS 11622081N doi 10 1073 pnas 1907828116 ISSN 0027 8424 PMC 6825292 PMID 31636186 Student dig unearths ancient gum 2007 20 August 2007 Ancient gum DNA Science The New York Times December 17 2019 Jensen Theis Z T Niemann Jonas Iversen Katrine Hojholt Fotakis Anna K Gopalakrishnan Shyam Vagene Ashild J Pedersen Mikkel Winther Sinding Mikkel Holger S Ellegaard Martin R Allentoft Morten E Lanigan Liam T 2019 12 17 A 5700 year old human genome and oral microbiome from chewed birch pitch Nature Communications 10 1 5520 Bibcode 2019NatCo 10 5520J doi 10 1038 s41467 019 13549 9 ISSN 2041 1723 PMC 6917805 PMID 31848342 Bosquet D Regert M DUBOIS N Jadin I 2001 Identification de brai de bouleau sur quatre vases du site rubane de Fexhe le Haut Clocher Podri l Cortri Premiers resultats Urem Kotsou D Mitkidou S Dimitrakoudi E Kokkinos N Ntinou M 2018 Following their tears Production and use of plant exudates in the Neolithic of North Aegean and the Balkans Quaternary International 496 68 79 Urem Kotsou D Stern B Heron C Kotsakis K 2002 Birch bark tar at Neolithic Makriyalos Greece Antiquity 76 962 967 Rageot M Lepere C Henry A Binder D Davtian G Filippi J J Fernandez X Guilaine J Jallet F Radi G Thirault E Terradas X Regert M 2021 Management systems of adhesive materials throughout the Neolithic in the North West Mediterranean Journal of Archaeological Science 126 105309 Morandi L F Porta S N Ribechini E 2018 Evidence for Birch Bark Tar Use as an Adhesive and Decorative Element in Early Iron Age Central Italy Technological and Socio Economic Implications Archaeometry 60 1077 1087 Hayek E W H Krenmayr P Lohninger H 1990 Identification of Archaeological and Recent Wood Tar Pitches Using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and Pattern Recognition Regert M Vacher S Moulherat C Decavallas O 2003 Adhesive Production and Pottery Function During the Iron Age at the Site of Grand Aunay Sarthe France Archaeometry 45 101 120 Sauter F Ulrich J Graf A Werther W Varmuza K 2000 Studies in organic archaeometry I identification of the prehistoric adhesive used by Tyrolean Icemen to fix his weapons Arkivoc V 735 747 Regert M Rolando C 2002 Identification of Archaeological Adhesives Using Direct Inlet Electron Ionization Mass Spectrometry Analytical chemistry 74 965 75 Courel B Schaeffer P Feliu C Thomas Y Adam P 2018 Birch bark tar and jewellery The case study of a necklace from the Iron Age Eckwersheim NE France Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 20 72 79 Balsan L 1951 L industrie de la resine dans les Causses et son extension dans l empire romain Gallia 9 53 55 Trintignac A 2003 La production de poix dans la cite des gabales Lozere a l epoque gallo romaine RAP n 1 2 239 248 Regert M Rodet Belarbi I Mazuy A Dantec G Dessi R M Henry A Rageot M Briz S 2019 Birch bark tar in the Roman world the persistence of an ancient craft tradition Antiquity 93 Production of Russia Leather PDF The Honourable Cordwainers Company 1807 Archived from the original PDF on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2013 10 04 Charman C 12 June 1999 Vishnevsky liniment and ichthammol on the perspectives of application in military medicine and other fields The BMJ 318 7198 1600 1604 doi 10 1136 bmj 318 7198 1600 PMC 1115970 PMID 10364122 a b c Lindqvist I Lindqvist B Tiilikkala K Hagner M Penttinen O P Pasanen T Setala H 2010 Birch tar oil is an effective mollusc repellent field and laboratory experiments using Arianta arbustorum Gastropoda Helicidae and Arion lusitanicus Gastropoda Arionidae Agricultural and Food Science 19 1 1 12 doi 10 2137 145960610791015050 Wanamaker L Birch Tar Oil A Powerful Antiseptic OtzisPouch 2020 04 01External links editNon video demonstration Treating Leather With Birch Tar Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Birch tar amp oldid 1217425242, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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