A few strands of red hair proved that people were already using drugs 3000 years ago. Archaeologists had found them in Spain in an old burial ground. The hair sample that was carried out was ultimately positive: The researchers found alkaloids that indicate nightshade plants.
The substances found include atropine, scopolamine and ephedrine, writes the team led by Elisa Guerra-Doce from the University Autónoma de Barcelona in an article published in the scientific journal “Scientific Reports”. They trigger hallucinations and delirium and have a stimulating effect. The research team claims to have demonstrated for the first time that drug use already took place in ancient times. So far, only indirect evidence has been available.
The strands of hair were discovered back in the 1990s in a chamber in the Es Càrritx cave on the Spanish island of Menorca. There the dead were buried, their hair kept in a vessel made of horn and wood. New investigations using high-performance liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectroscopy revealed that the red-dyed strands of hair are 3000 years old, i.e. from the Bronze Age. Apparently, mind-expanding substances were already being consumed back then.
However, the research team led by Elisa Guerra-Doce cannot say exactly which drugs were involved. It would be obvious that plants such as mandrake, henbane or datura, all of which occur on the island and contain the substances found, were used. The researchers suspect that the drugs were consumed in rituals.
Sources: “Scientifc Reports” / University Autònoma de Barcelona / “National Geographic”