Myrrh is traded and described across the ancient world as one commodity, but the genus has several resin-producing species and the ancient sources do not distinguish them. A genetic study of commercial myrrh found only a small proportion of samples matching the pharmacopoeia species, so even the modern trade is not one thing.
What would resolve this Species-level identification of resin residues from a securely dated archaeological context, ideally from more than one trade period.
OpenBotany, archaeobotany, and the economic history of the incense routes.Changhong Cao, Wenting Zhong, Feng Gao, Ying Zhang, Zhiguo Ma, Hui Cao and Menghua Wu, Deciphering Insights into Commercial Myrrh Species Authenticity from the psbA-trnH Genetic Region