Ancient humans used cannabis in burial rituals 2,800 years ago
Scientific American · Mary Randolph ·
New findings from a Siberian tomb offer the earliest direct evidence for human marijuana use
Whether you’re eating, smoking or drinking it, cannabis is commonplace; in the U.S., more people use it on a daily or near-daily basis than any other intoxicating substance, including alcohol or cigarettes. But how far back does humanity’s relationship with cannabis stretch?
In new research, archaeologists have dated the earliest known human use of cannabis to 2,800 years ago. The drug was likely used in a burial ritual at a tomb discovered in what is now Siberia. The archaeologists found direct evidence of its use, gathered from a combination of seeds and human hair—together these provide new insights into ancient societies and their cultural legacies’ potential influence on our world today, experts say.
“There is a lot of speculation about the use of psychoactive substances in the past,” says Gino Caspari, the paper’s lead author and an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena, Germany. “It is extremely rare to find real evidence for it. We bring a bit of realism into these debates, and we show that cannabis has a deep cultural history which might factor into ongoing societal discourse on legalization and medical use.”
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