Siberian Burial Site Yields Earliest Direct Evidence of Cannabis Use
Archaeologists in Siberia uncovered 2,800-year-old cannabis seeds and human hair traces, providing the earliest direct evidence of psychoactive cannabis use in ancient burial rituals.
An international research team has uncovered the earliest direct archaeological evidence of cannabis use for psychoactive purposes, dating back roughly 2,800 years to the early 8th century BCE. The findings were made at an elite Scythian burial site in Tuva, southern Siberia, and published in the journal Science.
Led by Dr. Gino Caspari from the Institute of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bern and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, the researchers analyzed approximately 1,000 cannabis seeds discovered in a princely burial mound. Direct radiocarbon dating of six seeds confirmed their antiquity to the early 8th century BCE, highlighting the significant role cannabis played in ancient funerary rituals.
While the seeds themselves pointed to ritual use, determining whether the plants served psychoactive purposes required advanced molecular analysis. The research team examined preserved human hair samples from the central burial chamber. Laboratory tests identified clear traces of cannabinol, a compound formed through the oxidation of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component in cannabis.
According to the researchers, while the hair analysis confirms cannabis consumption, it cannot precisely determine the exact quantities consumed or the specific method of ingestion, such as inhalation or ingestion. However, the combination of preserved seeds and molecular traces in human hair provides unprecedented scientific insight into ancient cultural practices, with ongoing genetic sequencing of plant samples expected to shed further light on the history of cannabis domestication.
