Bath curse tablets the Romans as "Aquae Sulis") were excavated between 1978 and 1983 by a team led by Barry Cunliffe and Peter Davenport. In 1979/1980, around 130 tablets were discovered in an excavation of the "Sacred Spring" under the King's Bath. The spring had been temporarily diverted to facilitate the excavation, revealing a huge array of Roman era items including the tablets. The tablets, some in a fragmentary state, were small and rectangular and initially were assumed to be made of lead, although subsequent metallurgical analysis revealed that they are, in fact, made of lead alloyed with tin, with occasional traces of
Aphanizomenon flos-aquae Aphanizomenon flos-aquae Aphanizomenon flos-aquae is a brackish and freshwater species of cyanobacteria found around the world, including the Baltic Sea and the Great Lakes. "Aphanizomenon flos-aquae" can form dense surface aggregations in freshwater (known as "cyanobacterial blooms"). These blooms occur in areas of high nutrient loading, historical or current. "Aphanizomenon flos-aquae" has both toxic and nontoxic forms. Most sources worldwide are toxic, containing both hepatic and neuroendotoxins. Most cyanobacteria (including "Aphanizomenon") produce BMAA, a neurotoxin amino acid implicated in ALS/Parkinsonism. Toxicity of "A. flos-aquae" has been reported in Canada, Germany and China. "Aphanizomenon flos-aquae" is known to produce endotoxins, the