Next Wednesday 07/05/2014 my colleague Brian Murphy and I will be presenting at the annual Irish Mass Spectrometry Society Meeting in Dublin. Really looking forward to this and there are some very interesting talks in the lineup for the day. Below is my presentation title and abstract for the meeting:
Chasing Hannibal: Using geochemistry to aid in tracing the route taken by the Punic Army to invade Italia in 218 BC.
Image from: http://www.romeartlover.it
Sean Jordan
School of Chemical Sciences
Dublin City University
In the year 218 BC, the Carthaginian military commander Hannibal left Carthage with an enormous army of infantry, horsemen, and war elephants. He travelled through Iberia and crossed the Alps to defy the Roman Empire and invade Italia. Controversy over the exact route taken has raged for over two millennia. Here we present data that may contribute to an end to this debate. Using a combination of geoarchaelogical, microbiological, and geochemical techniques it has been possible to unearth physical indications that may be evidence of Hannibal’s path of crossing. Soil samples from the Guil Valley in the French Alps were identified as potential sites where the Punic Army may have rested. These were then extracted and analysed by GC-MS to investigate whether the organic matter within holds any clues.Results show the presence of a faecal biomarker derived from ruminant organisms within a churned up layer in the soil profile. This layer dates to ~ 2200 yBP and the compound was not observed in any other samples from the surrounding area. These results will support an argument that a large cohort of animals passed through this area around 2200 yBP and is one piece of the puzzle that suggests this was the route travelled by Hannibal’s Army.
Sean F Jordan 