What function did the small spoons or spatulas that hung from the belts of barbarian warriors have? For archaeologist Andrzej Kokowski and his biologist colleagues Anna Jarosz-Wilkołazka and Anna Rysiak, they were not simple ornamental objects or amulets, but tools for dosing and taking psychotropic substances before a battle. The research was published in the German magazine Praehistorische Zeitschrift.
An unsolved mystery
Let’s start from this premise: the knowledge and use of drugs in rituals and battles dates back to the times of the Roman Empire and the ancient Greeks. However, with regard to the Germanic peoples or also called “barbarians” by the Romans, there is no documentary or physical evidence that allows us to affirm this custom with certainty; The only belief that these tribes consumed alcoholic beverages persists.
However, according to the equipment from the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, in Lublin, Poland, Evidence suggests that the Germanic people knew about psychotropic and stimulant substances and used them. If we wanted to treat this mystery as a crime, we could say that investigators found “the means, the motive, and the opportunity.” However, they admit that irrefutable evidence is still missing.
A T-rex The average measured up to 13 meters long and weighed 9 tons. But the largest could exceed 15 tons in weight and 15 meters in length.
The media
It all begins with the study and contextualization of hundreds of archaeological finds: a type of small spoons with a handle between 4 and 7 centimeters and at the end a small cup or flat disc between 1 and 2 centimeters in diameter. “These objects were found in the tombs of Germanic warriors from Roman times and in places where rituals related to combat were held,” the researchers explain. They were part of the funerary trousseau along with other objects used in war and were hung from the belts of warriors, although they would not have a function related to “attacking” enemies. They add that they appear to be instruments “for dosing small quantities, such as those necessary to obtain the desired effect of drugs without the risk of overdoing it.”
.jpg)
Driving represented an interesting way for neuroscientists to study how rodents acquire new skills. Unexpectedly, the rats had intense motivation for their driving classes.
The reason
As in other civilizations, the drugs would be intended to “recharge the forces” of the warriors before the battleanesthetize emotions, reduce stress and improve performance.
The opportunity
According to the authors of the study, It is very likely that the Germanic tribes knew plants and mushrooms from which psychotropic and stimulant substances could be extracted. Reconstructions suggest that various wild and cultivated species were available, for example barbarian peoples would have had easy access to poppy, hops, hemp, nightshade and mushrooms of various types. These were dried and reduced to powder, although the effect would have been less than consuming alcohol.
The availability of the species was not the limit, but rather the knowledge necessary to extract and make the most of the substances.; The little that was known about the properties of plants was used for rituals or medical remedies. Therefore, warriors needed an agile and immediate tool to dose drugs without the need for special knowledge and without risking very severe side effects.
No clues about the “smoking gun”
The researchers’ hypothesis has a definite appeal and can be supported in the described context. However, as the authors themselves acknowledge, At the moment it has not been possible to validate it with empirical testssuch as the search for traces of stimulant substances in the “spoons” of the barbarians, centuries and centuries later.
Article originally published in WIRED Italy. Adapted by Alondra Flores.
#strange #spoons #barbarians #belts
