Famous Smoke to Auction Pre-Columbian Mayan Cigars

Summary: On Monday, April 2nd, 328 pre-Columbian Mayan cigars discovered by Tampa University scientists will be auctioned for charity on the CigarAuctioneer.com website. The cigars were laboratory tested and considered safe for human consumption.
 
April 1, 2012 - PRLog -- 600 Year-Old Cigars Found in Smokeable Condition

EASTON, PA -- April 1, 2012 -- A team of Tampa University scientists working in southeast Guatemala has unearthed a large cache of 828 pre-Columbian cigars. The cigars are believed to be at least 600 years old. The team had been examining mineral samples at a Ch'orti' Maya cave site.

Earlier this year, researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Albany had announced the discovery of "traces of nicotine, the first physical evidence" of Mayan tobacco use, in a clay pot dated 700 A.D. However, that clay pot contained no identifiable plant material.

Commenting on the cigar discovery, archeologist Dr. Adam Fullerton, Ph.D, "was astonished by their condition," but "not all that surprised" in actually finding them. "This evidence confirms Mayan tobacco use," he said, adding, "We were just lucky to find the 'smoking gun.'"

The cigars were buried several feet below the cave surface in sealed clay pots, each of which bore syllabic glyphs labeling the contents as "sicars," meaning, "to smoke rolled tobacco leaves." They appear to have remained largely preserved. The discovery marks the first time actual tobacco has been found, and only the third time a Mayan clay pot's inscription has matched its contents.

According to geologist Dr. Michael Vandenhousen, Ph.D, the cave walls "displayed massive encrustations of potassium nitrate," formed when "solutions of alkali potassium and nitrate seeped through and crystallized." He also noted "the abundance of bat guano, whose organic decomposition yields the chemical over time." Commonly known as saltpeter, the chemical is often used as a food preservative and "almost certainly contributed to the cigars' survival," he said.

"Another factor was the cave's stable temperature and high relative humidity," added Dr. Vandenhousen. "But had the pots not been so well sealed and buried, I doubt the cigars would have survived for 6 years, let alone 600."

"The clay pots and 500 of the cigars were loaned out to various museums and universities, and will be displayed at Mayan exhibitions throughout the world," Dr. Vandenhousen said. "The Geology Department received the remaining 328 cigars," he added.

A cigar-smoker himself, Dr. Vandenhousen was enthusiastic about having the department's cigars further analyzed. He enlisted colleague Dr. Marvin Samuels, Ph.D, Ethnobotanist and Epiphytologist at Tampa University, to perform a series of bacterial toxicity tests on the cigars.

According to Dr. Samuels, "All plant material has surface microbes, called epiphytes, but other microbes, called endophytes, live inside plants." We cultured multiple samples of the tobacco and tested for both, but found no evidence of harmful bacteria. This was confirmed by BioTox analysis," he said.

"After reporting my results to Dr. Vandenhousen, it occurred to us that the cigars were fit for human consumption," said Dr. Samuels. "Dr. Vandenhousen proposed that we auction off a portion of the cigars, and use the proceeds to fund further research."

Samuels, who wrote his doctoral thesis at New York University, had been a frequent customer at Famous Smoke Shop, a cigar store formerly located on New York's West 39th Street. "I got to know the owner, Arthur Zaretsky, pretty well, and contacted him for his input" he said.  

"Mr. Zaretsky generously offered to list the cigars for auction on his Cigar Auctioneer website, and donate the proceeds to Tampa University," Dr. Samuels said.

The auction is scheduled to start on Monday, April 2. Those interested in learning more about this very rare auction can visit http://www.famous-smoke.com/mayan-cigars/ for more details.
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