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Egypt used to be the primary source of wheat for the Roman Empire. When this supply of food was disrupted, it had significant effects on the Empire's stability. Rebellions, barbarian invasions, epidemics, and droughts all contributed to this instability. Currently, researchers are studying the impact of climate change on the wheat supply by analyzing wood samples from mummies buried during the Roman era. Mummy labels of different quality from the BNU collection in Strasbourg were used to acquire dendrochronological measurements. Top left: Growth rings on mummy label HO87 cannot be measured easily due to tool marks and surface coating. Top right: Mummy label HO66 has a clean surface and perfectly readable rings. Bottom left: growth rings on label HO59 are only partly visible as a result of the cutting method applied and tool marks, the central part is illegible. Bottom right: Growth rings on the transverse plane of mummy label HO43 as seen on a X-ray tomography image with perfectly legible rings https://www.archaeology.org/news https://www.snf.ch/en/XlYUJjBFhCvE38RC/news/mummies-provide-the-key-to-reconstruct-the-climate-of-the-ancient-mediterranean The scholarly article: https://brill.com/view/journals/ijwc/aop/article-10.1163-27723194-bja10017/article-10.1163-27723194-bja10017.xml Distribution of the 599 labels for which the location of finds is known, as well as the distribution by label type: Type I, Stela shape rectangular; Type II, Stela shape trapezoidal; Type III, Stela shape close to square; Type IV, Stela shape with handle; Type V, Tabula Ansata