Roman 'chewing gum' found

A FORM of ancient chewing-gum was used 1,500 years ago to mend a Roman cooking pot that has been discovered at an archaeological site in Britain.

Archaeologists at Liverpool and Bradford universities have identified the glue used to mend the pot - which was found in sediments near the River Nene, at Far Cotton, Northamptonshire - as tar made from the bark of a birch tree. One of the unusual functions of birch bark tar was as an ancient 'chewing gum'.

Archaeologists have known about the use of birch bark tar for a variety of purposes but have not previously confirmed that it was used in Roman Britain.