New research published in the journal Science suggests that human consumption of psychoactive cannabis dates back at least 2,800 years. Archaeologists working at the Tunnug 1 burial mound in southern Siberia’s Uyuk Valley discovered cannabis seeds and human hair, indicating the plant held significant cultural or ritualistic importance to the nomadic Scythian people.
Challenging Historical Timelines
This discovery suggests that cannabis use in the region occurred at least 300 years earlier than previously documented cases in neighbouring China. While ancient historians like Herodotus wrote about Central Asian tribes using cannabis around 440 B.C., this physical evidence provides a much deeper historical context for the plant's role in ancient societies.
"It's only so often as an archaeologist that you do get to drug test a person that's been dead for almost 3,000 years," said co-author Gino Caspari, an archaeologist at the University of Bern. The team noted that the presence of over 1,000 seeds within the royal tomb suggests they were placed intentionally rather than by accident.
Scientific Debate
While the findings are significant, they have not been without scrutiny. Some independent experts, such as Volker Auwaerter of the University Medical Center in Freiburg, have questioned the methodology. Auwaerter argued that the hair analysis lacks the forensic rigour required to definitively prove psychoactive consumption, suggesting that environmental contamination could also explain the presence of cannabis compounds in the samples.
Regardless of the debate over the specific consumption method, the study underscores the long-standing relationship between humanity and the cannabis plant, predating modern prohibition by millennia.
Source: Yahoo News UK
