Israel finds "world's earliest" record of opium use

STORY: Israel finds "world's earliest" record of opium use DATELINE: Sept. 21, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:39 LOCATION: Jerusalem CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. shots of the entrance of Israel Antiquities Authority offices 2. shots of the main lab of Israel Antiquities Authority 3. shots of pottery vessels 4. various of Dr. Ron Be'eri of the Israel Antiquities Authority showing the pottery vessels 5. shots of pottery vessels 6. various of Dr. Ron Be'eri STORYLINE: Israeli researchers have found opium remains in pottery vessels discovered in central Israel, dating back to about 3,400 years ago. This is the world's earliest known evidence for the use of a hallucinogenic drug, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Tel Aviv University (TAU) said in a joint statement on Tuesday. In a study, conducted by the IAA, TAU and the Weizmann Institute of Science in central Israel and published in the journal Archaeometry, the team revealed that the Canaanites used opium in burial rituals as an offering for the dead.

Technologies help with China's archaeological research

STORY: Technologies help with China's archaeological research DATELINE: July 11, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:37 LOCATION: HEFEI/HANGZHOU, China CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHOU YANG, Deputy Secretary-General, China Association for Conservation Technology of Cultural Heritage 2. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): FANG LI, USTC 3. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): WU GAO, USTC 4. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): WANG NINGYUAN, Director of the Archaeometry Office, Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology 5. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): ZHOU YANG, Deputy Secretary-General, China Association for Conservation Technology of Cultural Heritage STORYLINE: In recent years, modern technologies have been widely used in China's archaeological research. Luminescence dating, isotope analysis, proteomics, satellite remote sensing and more are adopted by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chin