Scientists have found evidence of drug use in hair samples from a cave in Menorca, Spain. Even 3000 years later, the use of hallucinogenic intoxicants such as scopolamine, ephedrine and atropine can still be proven. The substances would have been consumed during ceremonies.
The analysis of three strands of human hair from a burial site suggests that ancient human civilizations used hallucinogenic drugs from plants, the scientists explain in their current study in the journal “Scientific Reports.”
Researchers see ‘highly specialized knowledge’
The results represent the first direct evidence of drug use in ancient Europe, which may have occurred in the context of ritualistic ceremonies, the researchers say. “Given the potential toxicity of the alkaloids found in hair, their handling, use and application represented highly specialized knowledge,” they explain in the study.
Atropine and scopolamine occur naturally in the nightshade family and can cause delirium, hallucinations and altered sensory perception. Extracted from certain types of shrubs and pine trees, ephedrine is a stimulant and can increase arousal, alertness and physical activity.
Medications were not intended to relieve pain
The results presented here suggest that the Bronze Age people of Menorca consumed several alkaloid-containing plants (although Solanaceae and Ephedra were not alone). “Interestingly, the psychoactive substances detected in this study are not suitable to relieve pain from ailments … detected in the population buried in the Es Carritx cave,” they continue. At that time, people were mainly plagued by abscesses, severe tooth decay and joint diseases.
Want to preserve knowledge?
“This knowledge was generally held by shamans, who were able to control the side effects of plant medicines through an ecstasy that enabled diagnosis or divination,” the researchers interpret. The concentric circles on the wooden containers they were found in may have represented eyes and a metaphor for inner visions related to a drug-induced altered state of consciousness, the researchers suggest.
Due to cultural changes some 2,800 years ago, the authors suspect that the containers in the cave chamber were sealed to preserve these ancient traditions.
So far only indications of drug use
Previous evidence for prehistoric drug use in Europe is based on circumstantial evidence, such as the detection of opium alkaloids in Bronze Age vessels, the discovery of drug plant remains in ritual contexts, and the appearance of drug plants in artistic depictions.
Source: Krone
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