Bronze Age humans are credited with a number of advancements: the invention of irrigation, the wheel, writing systems, and the ability to forge weapons and tools from the durable metal that gives the era its name.
Now, locks of human hair discovered in an ancient burial cave in Spain suggest another development: a propensity to use psychoactive drugs.
The hair, found in wooden containers hidden in a sealed grotto on Menorca, an island off the east coast of Spain, tested positive for mind-altering compounds, suggesting that people who lived there 3,000 years ago had experiences hallucinogenic. The findings, published in Scientific Reports in the journal Nature, are the first direct evidence that ancient Europeans consumed psychoactive drugs just like the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica.
Elisa Guerra-Doce, lead author of the study, said the researchers were stunned by the results, particularly because the interiors of the caves showed no signs of the presence of the drugs. A chemical analysis of the hair revealed evidence of three alkaloid substances known to produce altered states of consciousness: ephedrine, atropine, and scopolamine.
The compounds are produced by the endemic flora in Menorca. Atropine and scopolamine, powerful hallucinogens, can be found in plants of the nightshade family, such as mandrake, black henbane and jimsonweed. Ephedrine, a stimulant, can be extracted from Ephedra fragilis.
“These findings are so unique,” said Guerra-Doce, an expert in the anthropology of poisoning at the University of Valladolid in Spain. “Sometimes when people think about drugs, they think it’s a modern practice. “These results tell a different story.”
He explained that the way the compounds were distributed in each strand of hair suggests that the drugs were consumed over a period of a year and long before death.
The cave, Es Càrritx, was discovered by cavers in 1995 and contained the remains of more than 200 people who had been buried over six centuries, with the last burial in approximately 800 BC. Many were related through multiple generations. .
For anthropologists, the most significant treasure in the cave was the tubular boxes containing locks of hair dyed red. The boxes survived in part because the cave’s entrance, 25 meters below the top edge of a 90-meter-high gorge, had been sealed with rubble.
Although there is no way to know why these ancient people used such drugs, Guerra-Doce noted that the boxes featured patterns that modern humans might interpret as inspired by psychedelia—a series of concentric circles that suggest a hypnotic target.
Ancient humans are thought to have used psychotropic plants both for medicinal purposes and in religious ceremonies, but until now, much of the knowledge has been based on indirect evidence, such as ceramic vessels, smoking pipes, or plant residues found at archaeological sites in Eurasia.
Giorgio Samorini, an Italian ethnobotanist who specializes in the archeology of psychoactive plants and who was not involved in the study, said the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that hallucinogens were an integral part of ancient societies in everyone.
Because the locks lacked hair bulbs, the scientists were unable to do a DNA analysis that would allow them to determine the sex of those who had consumed the compounds.
Ephedrine provides bursts of energy and mental clarity, and may ward off drowsiness. Atropine and scopolamine can cause hallucinations and out-of-body experiences.
“There is a lot more we need to learn,” Guerra-Doce said.
By: ANDREW JACOBS
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6679141, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-04-25 18:50:07
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