The Archaeologist

View Original

Researchers learn that neanderthals used psychedelics to get high millions of years ago

A recent study discovered that after a long day of hunting and gathering, Neanderthals enjoyed relaxing by using psychoactive substances.

We now have proof that people used drugs in prehistoric times because to the finding of human hair strands at a burial site in Menorca, Spain.

A recent study that was presented sheds new information on drug use throughout history and was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The research revealed numerous distinct alkaloid compounds that originated from nightshade plants.

They contain ephedrine, a stimulant, as well as scopolamine and atropine, which can both lead to hallucinations and out-of-body experiences.

Additionally, there were boxes in the cave that had psychedelic patterns on them; these could have been made by neanderthals while they were high.

The study's principal author, Elisa Guerra-Doce, is an associate professor of prehistory at the University of Valladolid.

People occasionally assume that using drugs is a modern practice. These outcomes reveal a distinct narrative.

Giorgio Samorini, an ethnobotanist who was unrelated to the study, added to the article: "This was not a profane purpose of'searching for a high' but rather more generally the search for existential meaning that has been largely lost to time."