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2,100-Year-Old Melon Found In Japan
Japanese scientists say the inside of an ancient melon has been found in the Shimonogo ruins in Moriyama.
The Shimonogo Municipal Board of Education said the fruit dates back about 2,100 years.
The melon segment was kept from contact with the atmosphere and was able to preserve its inner fruit, the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Friday.
The age of the fruit was determined using radiocarbon dating.
A 2,100-year-old melon with the flesh still on the rind was unearthed in western Japan, apparently preserved underground over the centuries in a vacuum-packed state, an official said Friday.
Archeologists used radiocarbon analysis to estimate the age of the fruit, believed to be the oldest melon found with flesh still on the rind, said Shuji Yamazaki, a local official in the city of Moriyama.
Previously, the oldest such find was believed to be remains found in China that date back to the fourth century A.D., according to local media reports.
The melon might have been so well-preserved because it was in a vacuum-packed state in a wet layer below the ground, an environment hostile to microorganisms that might otherwise have broken down the remains, Yamazaki said.
Melon seeds have been often found in archaeological digs around the country, but researchers rarely find the remains of melon flesh, Yamazaki said.
Moriyama is about 200 miles southwest of Tokyo.
The inner fruit of what experts believe is the world's oldest melon, dating back about 2,100 years, has been excavated from the Shimonogo ruins in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, the Shimonogo Municipal Board of Education announced Thursday.
The fruit, measuring 10.5 centimeters, was discovered about one meter underground in the Shimonogo settlement, which was surrounded by moats during the Yayoi period (ca 300 B.C.-ca A.D. 300).
The surface of the melon is discolored dark brown. Buried in moisture-rich soil that acted as a vacuum seal, the melon segment was kept from contact with the atmosphere and was able to preserve its inner fruit.
The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto identified the age of the fruit based on radiocarbon dating.
The melon, native to Africa, came to Japan via the Middle East and India. The oldest melon fruit previously discovered was one in China that dated back to the fourth century.
The Shimonogo Municipal Board of Education said the fruit dates back about 2,100 years.
The melon segment was kept from contact with the atmosphere and was able to preserve its inner fruit, the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Friday.
The age of the fruit was determined using radiocarbon dating.
A 2,100-year-old melon with the flesh still on the rind was unearthed in western Japan, apparently preserved underground over the centuries in a vacuum-packed state, an official said Friday.
Archeologists used radiocarbon analysis to estimate the age of the fruit, believed to be the oldest melon found with flesh still on the rind, said Shuji Yamazaki, a local official in the city of Moriyama.
Previously, the oldest such find was believed to be remains found in China that date back to the fourth century A.D., according to local media reports.
The melon might have been so well-preserved because it was in a vacuum-packed state in a wet layer below the ground, an environment hostile to microorganisms that might otherwise have broken down the remains, Yamazaki said.
Melon seeds have been often found in archaeological digs around the country, but researchers rarely find the remains of melon flesh, Yamazaki said.
Moriyama is about 200 miles southwest of Tokyo.
The inner fruit of what experts believe is the world's oldest melon, dating back about 2,100 years, has been excavated from the Shimonogo ruins in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, the Shimonogo Municipal Board of Education announced Thursday.
The fruit, measuring 10.5 centimeters, was discovered about one meter underground in the Shimonogo settlement, which was surrounded by moats during the Yayoi period (ca 300 B.C.-ca A.D. 300).
The surface of the melon is discolored dark brown. Buried in moisture-rich soil that acted as a vacuum seal, the melon segment was kept from contact with the atmosphere and was able to preserve its inner fruit.
The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto identified the age of the fruit based on radiocarbon dating.
The melon, native to Africa, came to Japan via the Middle East and India. The oldest melon fruit previously discovered was one in China that dated back to the fourth century.
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