Bristol leads archaeologists on 5,000-year-old egg hunt

Long before Fabergé, ornate ostrich eggs were highly prized by the elites of Mediterranean civilisations during the Bronze and Iron Ages, but to date little has been known about the complex supply chain behind these luxury goods. Examining ostrich eggs from the British Museum's collection, the team, led by Bristol's Dr Tamar Hodos , were able to reveal secrets about their origin and how and where they were made. Using state-of-the-art scanning electron microscopy, Dr Caroline Cartwright, Senior Scientist at the British Museum was able to investigate the eggs' chemical makeup to pinpoint their origins and study minute marks that reveal how they were made. In the study, published in the journal Antiquity , the researchers describe for the first time the surprisingly complex system behind ostrich egg production. This includes evidence about where the ostrich eggs were sourced, if the ostriches were captive or wild, and how the manufacture methods can be related to techniques and materials used by artisans in specific areas. "The entire system of decorated ostrich egg production was much more complicated than we had imagined! We also found evidence to suggest the ancient world was much more interconnected than previously thought," said Dr Hodos , Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology in Bristol's School of Arts. "Mediterranean ostriches were indigenous to the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa.