An ancient burial mound uncovered in Siberia has revealed the oldest known evidence of humans using cannabis for its psychoactive effects, Reuters reports.
Archeologists uncovered the evidence in a monumental burial structure located in the Uyuk Valley of Russia’s Republic of Tyva, bordering Mongolia. By analyzing braids of hair found on the bodies in the central burial chamber, researchers found the chemical signature of THC and traces of cannabinol, or CBN.
The evidence shows that humans were consuming cannabis to get high at least 2,800 years ago. It is the oldest known evidence of people consuming cannabis for the effects of its cannabinoids, although humans have utilized the cannabis plant for its fibers, seeds, and oils since possibly 8,000 BC.
“The human body does build cannabis-related molecules like THC and CBD into the hair. That’s how drug tests work. We cannot really say how they consumed it based on the hair alone, but considering later evidence in the region it seems likely that it was inhaled.” — Gino Caspari, study lead and archeologist with the University of Bern in Switzerland and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany, in the report
Researchers also discovered more than 1,400 cannabis seeds at the Siberian burial grounds and traced their age to the early 8th century BC.
Meanwhile, in 2023, human hair samples recovered from a cave in Spain revealed the use of psychedelics by people at least 3,000 years ago.
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