Scientists and students from Kocaeli University, Istanbul University, Ege University and Selçuk University led by Dr. Şengül Aydıngün during the excavation at the site of ancient Greek city Bathonea near Istanbul have discovered around 700 pottery or glasses bottles. These bottles scientist call unguentaria. Unguentaria were used in ancient period as product packaging in commerce and for funerary purpose.
Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK) in Gebze district suggest that these bottles containing traces of medications. Scientist suggests that main components in these bottles are Methanone and Phenanthrene which ancient people used to untreated depression and issues with heart. These findings according to Dr. Şengül Aydıngün implicates that city Bathonea were probably center of pharmaceutical production. The carbon samples of the residue are reportedly analyzed by Wroclaw Archeology and Ethnography Institute in Poland.
Because these bottles dated around 6-7 century historians this discovery trying to combine with known historical facts for example with siege of Constantinople by a joint Avar-Sassanid force in 626 or migrations of Avars (Caucasus).
In the area of Bathonea archeologists dug many times earlier and this is well known archeological site. During the previous period researches discovered traces of agricultural activities from neolithic period. The ports of Bathonea have also been used by the Vikings in the 9th and 11th centuries.