DreamingNagual Posted January 13, 2009 (edited) On the ABC now there is a show Called the museum, They are searching old pots shaped like Opium Poppies for traces of ancient opium Residues. And pots from ancient Peru for something or other! A very interesting program indeed! Edited January 13, 2009 by DreamingNagual Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DreamingNagual Posted January 13, 2009 (edited) This Program is bloody awsome! anyone else watching? details here! http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200901...2009T200000.htm The backrooms of the British Museum are bristling with sleuths. This week on The Museum, grey-bearded Irving Finkel, an expert in the world's oldest writing, is called to Scotland Yard to help the police with their enquiries. In the museum's laboratory, Rebecca Stacey is hunting for a whiff of opium in a small pot three and a half thousand years old. And Colin McEwan is trying to crack a code, the silent language of the Nasca, the ancient and mysterious South American tribe, famous for etching huge symbols in the Peruvian desert. Colin thinks the key to these symbols lies in some dusty boxes on the museum's shelves. The Museum: Old Pots And Puzzles will be repeated on ABC2 - Sunday, January 25 at 7:00pm. Well it just finished quite abruptly, Didnt really seem to conclude the story? I do hope there is a part 2 Edited January 13, 2009 by DreamingNagual Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PD. Posted January 13, 2009 I caught the part where the lady had drilled a small hole into one of the small pots and scraped out a black tarry substance but missed the rest. Did they mention what the substance was at all DN? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DreamingNagual Posted January 13, 2009 The woman scraped out that fragrant Sticky substance, But first tests showed no opiates. Aparently it was some sort of oil? She made a replicate of aged opium by washing some modern day opium in Alcohol, Agitated, Then dried in an oven for 1 month, Tested this as to get an idea of what it looked like under what i guess was a Mass spectrometry readout! After a few tests showing no sign of opiates she heated the substance to let off the floral scent, Tested that and it showed Very small signs of an opiate and thats about as far as I seen as I went out for a cig. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nabraxas Posted January 14, 2009 She made a replicate of aged opium by washing some modern day opium in Alcohol, Agitated, Then dried in an oven for 1 month yeah she got a big pot ov opium from a "reputable source" & then only used a smidgen ov it....what does she do w/the rest ov it? what i guess was a Mass spectrometry readout was it? i couldn't quite understand what she was doing. Surely she could just have used a mass spectrometer to test for opiates without using the modern opium? It all seemed very complicated compared to the ion scanners & EZTest bags they use on the customs show Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t st tantra Posted January 14, 2009 radio national,last year,had a program on the testing of pipes found under the ruins of shakespeares home..........cocaine,opium,canabis.......and something which seemed like a blend of psychotropic plants....... t s t . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t st tantra Posted January 14, 2009 antiques roadshow a few weeks back had an old doctors kit which included a pill making set up which was demonstrated. t s t . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shruman Posted January 14, 2009 "After a few tests showing no sign of opiates she heated the substance to let off the floral scent, Tested that and it showed Very small signs of an opiate and thats about as far as I seen as I went out for a cig." Yeah that was pretty much it. They said it will require lots more work & then it ended. More questions than answers. Quite enjoyed it but it came of as an ad for recruiting museum curators. "radio national,last year,had a program on the testing of pipes found under the ruins of shakespeares home..........cocaine,opium,canabis.......and something which seemed like a blend of psychotropic plants......." thats pretty cool had read about cannabis on the pipe but do'nt recall coke or opium although it seems fitting. Saw that AR episode was pretty cool nifty little kit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
