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Dear Helmut, and all, Given what you said about identification of Brassicaceae, would a DNA-based assay be of interest? We are working on some assays for other genera at the moment, based on species-specific polymorphisms, and the results are very promising with desiccated material up to 2500yrs bp. I have some experience with Brassica genomics, so I have some ideas of targets for an assay for Brassicaceae. I wonder whether anyone would like to collaborate by offering small numbers of samples to test, if I do the work on the bioinformatics? Desiccated seeds give the best chance of a good signal, and I have heard of charred material working, but I understand it can be very frustrating! Dr. Jonathan Moore Warwick HRI, UK >Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 10:07:10 +0100 >From: Helmut Kroll <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Sinapis alba >Dear all, >I looked into my old kartothek: >The only Roman reference of cf. Sinapis alba is >K.-H. Knoerzer, Roemerzeitliche Pflanzenreste aus einem Brunnen bei Butzba= >ch in >Hessen. Saalburg-Jahrbuch 30, 1973, 71-114. >Brassica/Sinapis and similar genera are very difficult to determine; best = >conditions and >many findings are necessary to give a decent determination. >Nearly all "Sinapis" I have seen was Brassica nigra! > >[I - personly - believe that Sinapis alba comes in the Middle Ages to Cent= >ral Europe]