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Tripping in the Bronze Age Tripping in the Bronze Age
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Bronze Age humans have been credited with a number of civilizational advancements: the invention of irrigation, the wheel, writing systems and the ability to forge weapons and tools from the durable metal that lends the era its name.Bronze Age humans have been credited with a number of civilizational advancements: the invention of irrigation, the wheel, writing systems and the ability to forge weapons and tools from the durable metal that lends the era its name.
Now, strands of human hair discovered in an ancient burial cave in Spain suggest another novelty: a proclivity for consuming psychoactive drugs.Now, strands of human hair discovered in an ancient burial cave in Spain suggest another novelty: a proclivity for consuming psychoactive drugs.
The hair, found inside wooden containers hidden deep within a sealed grotto on Minorca, an island off the coast of eastern Spain, tested positive for a number of mind-altering compounds, suggesting that the people who lived there 3,000 years ago incorporated hallucinogenic experiences into the rituals of their lives.The hair, found inside wooden containers hidden deep within a sealed grotto on Minorca, an island off the coast of eastern Spain, tested positive for a number of mind-altering compounds, suggesting that the people who lived there 3,000 years ago incorporated hallucinogenic experiences into the rituals of their lives.
The findings, published Thursday in Scientific Reports of the journal Nature, provide the first direct evidence that ancient Europeans consumed psychoactive drugs much like their pre-Columbian brethren in Mesoamerica, the researchers said.The findings, published Thursday in Scientific Reports of the journal Nature, provide the first direct evidence that ancient Europeans consumed psychoactive drugs much like their pre-Columbian brethren in Mesoamerica, the researchers said.
Elisa Guerra-Doce, the lead author of the study, said researchers were stunned by the results, especially because the cave interiors yielded no detectable signs of the drugs’ presence. 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 themselves are produced by flora native to Minorca. Atropine and scopolamine, powerful hallucinogens, can be found in plants in the nightshade family, among them mandrake, henbane and thorn apple. Ephedrine, a stimulant, can be extracted from joint pine.