The bottle of oil was found by Alberto Angela during a visit to the MANN in Naples: today its dating is confirmed and it is the oldest in the world!
Alberto Angela had guessed this two years ago during an inspection in the warehouses of National Archaeological Museum of Naples and now we have the certainty of it thanks to the research of a study group: the one kept at the MANN is the oldest oil bottle in the world. During her visit, Angela had spotted this bottle in particular, noting how full it was and initially assuming that its contents were wine.
The container kept in the deposits started a study with the University of Naples Federico II, the results of which were even barely published in the Nature group's journal NPJ Science of Foods, certainly giving a lot of prestige to the discovery. The bottle had been buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD and its discovery testifies to the importance of oil also in the Mediterranean diet of two millennia ago.
The oldest bottle of oil in the world: molecular studies
An extraordinary discovery that today is confirmed by years of studies and research especially in the molecular field. In fact, the team led and coordinated by Professor Raffaele Sacchi used molecular techniques and carbon-14 dating to identify with certainty the contents of the bottle.
Of course, over the centuries the characteristics of the liquid have changed and today it presents itself to us more as a kind of wax due to the chemical changes that occur in dietary fats. The discovery, in any case, is truly extraordinary.
