Were there alcoholic beverages – beer, mead, and wine – or other types of substances or foods in the vessels found by archaeologists? Dr Angelina Rosiak from the Institute of General and Environmental Chemistry at the Technical University of Łódź is carrying out a project to verify whether arabitol is a sought-after indicator (biomarker) of archaeological remains of alcoholic beverages.

Arabitol is a relatively simple alcohol formed during bacterial fermentation of simple sugars. 

This compound has been identified in archaeological samples studied to date, but so far its presence has not been linked to a specific source, says Dr Eng. Angelina Rosiak.

As the researcher emphasises, the identification of alcoholic beverages faces difficulties due to their specific chemical nature, as they are mainly composed of water and water-soluble compounds such as alcohols and sugars. “The molecules of these compounds (e.g. tartaric acid) are relatively small and break down quickly. The main challenge, therefore, is to identify those components of wine, mead or beer which may have survived to modern times and would be characteristic of these types of fermented beverages”, explains Dr Eng Rosiak.