A special kind of positive drug test: In the Bronze Age, drugs derived from plants were used on the Mediterranean island of Menorca. This comes from analysis results of hairs discovered in a cave burial site on the Mediterranean island. The scientists say that shamans may have used the hallucinogenic substances in ceremonies.
Substances that alter consciousness have probably been used deliberately by humans since time immemorial. There are indications of this from different cultures in human history. In Europe, however, there has so far only been indirect evidence of drug use in prehistoric times: for example, opium alkaloids have been detected in Bronze Age vessels or plants with the corresponding active ingredient potential have been identified in artistic depictions. But the current study has now directly "convicted" drug users from this era through a hair analysis, so to speak.
3000 year old hair samples
The test material came from the Es Càrritx cave on the Balearic island of Menorca. This site was used as a place for rituals and burials in the Bronze Age, finds show. In 1995, archaeologists also discovered a mysterious camp about 60 centimeters long in a previously hidden part, which was covered with a stone slab. Inside, in addition to various artifacts, were several small wooden containers in which strands of hair lay. They probably came from special people who had been buried in the cave system around 3000 years ago.
"Thanks to the exceptional conservation conditions, the hair and all the tools used to process it have survived to this day and we have been able to analyze them," says co-author Cristina Rihuete from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The first examination showed that it was human hair, which had apparently been dyed reddish with botanicals. Now, some hair samples have been subjected to analysis using liquid chromatography in conjunction with mass spectrometry to reveal other ingredients.
Shamans in ritual intoxication?
Relevant known substances were detected: the alkaloids ephedrine, atropine and scopolamine. "Ephedrine is a natural stimulant, while atropine and scopolamine have hallucinogenic effects," explains lead author Elisa Guerra Doce of the University of Valladolid. The scientists report that native plants that could have provided these substances grow in Menorca: Ephedra (Ephedra fragilis), Mandrake (Mandragora autumnalis), White Henbane (Hyoscyamus albus) and Datura (Datura stramonium). "The results presented here indicate that several alkaloid-containing plants were consumed by Bronze Age people on Menorca," the researchers write.
According to them, the substances could also have served medical purposes, but in the case of atropine and scopolamine in particular, a targeted use to expand consciousness seems more likely. The use was presumably reserved for "experts": "In view of the potential poisonous effect of the alkaloids found in the hair, their handling, use and application represented highly specialized knowledge. This knowledge was usually possessed by shamans," write the researchers. The substances may have been used in rituals. In other words, certain individuals may have “connected the community to their supernatural imagination through the use of the substances.
According to the researchers, another indication speaks for this: concentric circles that could have represented eyes are shown on the wooden containers in which the hair lay. The scientists speculate that they may also symbolize inner visions in connection with a drug-induced altered state of consciousness.
Source: Autonomous University of Barcelona, Specialist article: Sci Rep, doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31064-2