“In Europe we often think that we are historical cultures of beer and wine drinkers, so research into other drugs has sometimes been somewhat neglected,” said Elisa Guerra-Doce. Finds, however, indicate the consumption of various substances up to 8,000 years ago and developments in analytical chemistry enable the direct detection of psychoactive substances in material and human remains, as the archaeologist explained in Vienna.
The Scythians already smoked grass
Traditional methods of archeology rely on material cultures, such as pipes or other artifacts, artistic representations or historical references, according to the researcher from the Universidad de Valladolid (Spain), who recently gave a lecture at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). was. An example of such references are the reports of the Greek historian Herodotus regarding the consumption of hemp by the Scythians, who were native north of the Black Sea in the area of today’s Ukraine and southern Russia, as part of funeral rituals. Remains of Chinese Neolithic communities also point to the cultivation of hemp around 6,000 years ago – in Europe there is early material evidence of the use of the plant as a narcotic in the late third millennium BC. BC in today’s Romania.
Opium, on the other hand, would have been widespread in Europe from the middle of the sixth millennium BC. BC – one of the earliest evidence of the cultivation of the poppy plant was found in La Marmotta near Rome. This is currently undergoing chemical analysis, said Guerra-Doce. In Leobersdorf, Lower Austria, a handful of seeds from black henbane, which belongs to the nightshade family and also has a hallucinogenic effect, were discovered in a Bronze Age grave, although their benefits have not yet been clarified.
Evidence in strands of hair and utensils
Using analytical methods to characterize and identify organic compounds, alkaloids and their major metabolites can be detected in biological samples such as strands of human hair or utensils that have been related to consumption, the researcher said. The analyzes make it possible to create more precise historical timelines of drug use: “The chemical identification of cocaine and its most important metabolites has shown that pre-Hispanic populations in America consumed coca leaves up to 3,000 years ago,” says Guerra- Doce.
They also provide information regarding consumption patterns, for example in relation to age groups and gender: “In some societies there were strong social restrictions, while in others there was normalization – for example, tobacco was taboo for women in certain communities in the Peruvian Andes, while they “We used tobacco to perform shamanic rituals with other South American groups,” the researcher continued.
Drugs in shamanic rituals
Guerra-Doce and her colleagues also achieved the earliest direct evidence of polydrug use in Europe, dating back to around 3,000 years ago: the alkaloids atropine, scopolamine and ephedrine were identified in strands of hair in the Es Càrritx cave on the island of Menorca. The former two occur in nightshade plants, ephedrine in shrubs and conifers. The material finds indicate that they were used in shamanic rituals. The results were published regarding a year ago, and ceramics found in the area are now being examined for residues: “We were able to detect the substances in a burial chamber, but they were probably not consumed there during the burial rites – that’s why we are looking for residues in other contexts like settlements,” said Guerra-Doce.
Medicine, religion, spirituality
However, it cannot be precisely determined from the alkaloids whether substances were consumed for medical reasons or because of their hallucinogenic effects. “But I think that this dichotomy is in itself flawed: In modern western societies, we rigidly separate which active ingredients are taken for medicine and which are taken for fun. In prehistoric societies, medicine was often mixed with religion and spirituality,” explained the researcher. At the same time, the healer was the religiously responsible person and used the drug himself to treat the sick in order to find out the reason for the illness in a spiritual state.
“From a historical point of view, these new methods give us a lot of information regarding individual societies, but for me it also makes us think regarding the way we perceive drug use today – mostly just as an escape from reality. However, it has existed since prehistoric times positive relationships with hallucinogenic substances that were beneficial to many social communities,” said Guerra-Doce.
