When studying museum exhibits or finding various artifacts during excavations, it is very easy to lose your head from excitement by touching them. But this should be done with caution, as our ancestors could have prepared a surprise by covering the surface of the item with poison or hiding it inside. Interestingly, this was not done on purpose, since in the past there were many toxic things in use whose danger has not yet been proven. Asbestos was one of these substances - it was used for the manufacture of many everyday objects. The deliberate use of poison is also historically very popular, with its help it was possible to get rid of an obsessive lover or political opponent. That is why during contact with ancient objects found, special care should be taken.
1
Suicidal glasses
The museum of international espionage (yes there is one), located in the US capital, has one interesting exhibit. These are ordinary-looking glasses, inside of which there is a curious secret. In one of the arms is hidden an ampoule of cyanide, using which a person will die immediately.
Points were given to undercover agents who had to commit suicide in order to avoid torture and not give out state secrets. The agent took a shackle of glasses in his mouth at ease, biting through it, after which he instantly and painlessly died. They invented suicidal glasses in the CIA, but they were in demand by many special services from around the world.
2
Killer book
A book of the 17th century, or rather its layout, hiding several types of poisons, appeared about 10 years ago at a German auction. All pages of the lot were glued, and cavities were made inside, in which 11 types of deadly poisons were placed. Each poison was stored in a special box with a tag on which was the name of the substance. Also there was a jar of green with a painted skeleton.
Fortunately for buyers, there were no poisons inside, and tests of residual traces have not yet been conducted, but scientists suggest that the book belonged to a hired killer. It is worth noting that in ancient times, not only “killers” used poison, but also doctors, however, toxic substances were found in three containers that could not be useful in medicine.
3
Deadly bacteria
This case is not entirely related to the poison, but is worthy of mention in the list. Last year, human remains were found in the northwestern part of Turkey, the antiquity of which totaled 8 centuries. She was a pregnant woman who had reached the age of thirty. Below its ribs, archaeologists discovered two calcined nodules containing the harmful bacteria Gardnerella vaginalis and Staphylococcussaprophyticus. Apparently, their development led to the death of the pregnant woman.
Often, from excavated DNA during excavations, such bacteria own no more than one percent of the body. But in this case, they amounted to 31 to 58% of the total.
4
Death books
By accident, in three books stored at Danish Southern University, historians have found a sufficient dose of arsenic for death. These books described important historical events dating back to the 16th-17th centuries. It is worth considering that many books of that era were “filed” with old scriptures, for example, laws of the times of the Roman Empire. Historians could not completely decrypt the text because of the presence of green paint on the pages that covered part of the text. To decipher the contents, scientists used x-rays. Imagine their surprise when they learned that the paint was created from a deadly chemical element - arsenic.
At that time, people did not know that the use of arsenic causes the development of cancer and other deadly diseases and used it to make green dyes. Pages of books were poured with green substance not for decoration (the paint was inside, not on the cover), but to scare away insects and rodents.
5
Deadly Wallpaper
Arsenic was used not only during the manufacture of books, but also in the manufacture of wallpaper. One exhibit is on display in Manhattan at the Design Museum. Until 1775, all green wallpapers quickly faded and turned brown. Later, however, arsenic was added to the dye, and the pigment itself was called green Schelle. Everything would be fine, only such wallpapers slowly killed their owners. When liquid gets on them or during high humidity, the arsenic evaporates, passing into a gaseous state. Inhaling his vapors, the owners of the houses died in their own homes.
Wallpaper exhibited in the museum is dated 1836. Since then, all shades have become almost invisible, except for green, preserving the primordial brightness. Contact with paper can lead to infection, which is why the exhibit is stored behind glass during displays and securely wrapped during storage and transportation.
6
Dangerous fashion
Green “arsenic” paint was used not only for paper processing. It was also used in the manufacture of dresses and hats in Britain in the Victorian era. Needless to say, how dangerous was such a production. They decided to study the dye material only after 1861, when a woman died making jewelry for hats in the form of artificial flowers of green colors. The doctor noted that the amount of poison contained in one hat was enough for the sudden death of more than 20 people. The outfit for balls of that era included a little less than 1000 grains of arsenic, of which about 50 evaporated in one evening. Considering the fact that 4-5 grains are enough for the death of an adult, the find simply shocked the public.
The danger lay in wait not so much for fashionistas as for people engaged in sewing outfits. People who worked with dangerous dye around the clock worsened their health with arsenic, becoming victims of various diseases. Employees of the York Castle Museum in contact with "poisoned" dresses only in respiratory masks and gloves, as they still carry a mortal danger.
And about how fashionable women of the beginning of the 20th century looked, we published an interesting article with many photos.
7
Mad Hatter
Poisoned clothing could be impregnated not only with arsenic. Felt hats contained enough mercury to poison an adult. Because of them, a huge number of hatter XVIII-XIX centuries in France and Great Britain were infected. Masters worked the fur of hares and rabbits to make it suitable for making felt. At the same time, they inhaled vapors of mercury that affected the brain. The first signs of mercury poisoning are tremors, uncontrolled salivation and tooth loss. There are also problems with the respiratory and cardiac systems, paranoia develops and hallucinations appear. As a result, a person dies.
Hatter customers were not poisoned, as they were separated from mercury vapor by a lining. That is why no one has banned the use of mercury in cutting hats. The problem was resolved by itself when felt hats became irrelevant, due to going out of fashion. One copy of the "crazy" hat is in the Canadian Shoe Museum. Doctors warn that she is still poisonous.
8
Toxic outfits
In the northern part of Chile, the town of Sero Esmeralda, this year archaeologists discovered an ancient grave dating from the first half of the 15th century. In it were the mummies of two girls dressed in chic red furniture. One of the girls was 9 another 18 years old. After conducting a laboratory analysis of clothes, scientists came to the conclusion that instead of using iron oxide (hematite), cinnabar, a mineral with a very high mercury content, was used to color the dress.
Given that the nearest cinnabar deposits were already in Peru (1600 kilometers north of Lima), the option of buying a mineral for dress color was not considered. Most likely, clothes were treated with a poisonous dye to protect the burial from robbers.
We also advise you to read an article about archaeological finds invaluable to science, published on our site most-beauty.ru.
9
Poisoned Arrows
Conducting wars using poisoned tips was widespread throughout the world, so when at the end of the 19th century another batch of weapons obtained by the East India Company, containing poisonous arrows, was delivered to the British Museum, they did not attach much importance to such a find. But after analyzing the weapon, scientists were surprised that the poison was active even after 1300 years of inactivity.
The arrows belonged to the Karen people, who at that time lived in Burma. They were used during the hunt to immobilize prey. The poison was made from crushed seeds or the juice of the fruits of a local tree. Getting into the circulatory system of the animal, it led to convulsions and cardiac arrest.
10
Ring with a cavity for poison
About 5 years ago, a ring with a cavity was found in the Bulgarian Kaliakra. During the excavation, about 30 jewelry were found, but only this ring had a secret container. Historians concluded that the cavity was filled with poison, which, if necessary, spilled out into the victim’s food or drink.
It was made in the 14th century and belonged to the ruler of those lands, Dobrotitsa, a cruel feudal lord, during whose rule a lot of local nobles died. After the discovery of the ring, it seems that scientists will be able to shed light on most of the murders of that period.