Long Before Pablo Escobar! Direct Evidence Of Spaniards Consuming Drugs During Bronze Age Found
Researchers found that these substances could have been quite strong and there was a potential involvement of shamans who could control the side effects of the plant drugs.
A new study has discovered that Spanish people in Menorca, about 204 km southeast of Barcelona, consumed hallucinogenic drugs about three millennia ago.
About 3,000 years before Pablo Escobar
What is more fascinating is that this practice dates back around 2,900 years before the birth of Spanish-speaking drug lord Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
The research findings published in the journal Scientific Reports point towards human activity at the Es C¨¤rritx cave on the southwestern side of Menorca and suggest that the bronze-age civilisation there consumed drugs emanated from plants and bushes.
Pablo Escobar
It is supposed that Es C¨¤rritx, which has more than 200 human graves, had been a funeral spot for about six centuries until 800 BCE.
Three psychoactive substances detected
Researchers found that these substances could have been quite strong and there was a potential involvement of shamans who could control the side effects of the plant drugs. They were presumably used during ceremonies held at the cave.
Three psychoactive substances were detected upon the scientific analysis of the hair locks dyed red, which would have come from more than one individual during the ancient rituals.
Nature.com
Besides hallucination-inducing atropine and scopolamine, scientists also found ephedrine, which stimulates energy and alertness. It was also noted that containers found in the cave had spiral motifs carved on the lids.
These motifs appear to have been created by persons with "altered states of consciousness" while under the effect of hallucinogens.
Use of drugs in ancient civilisations
This is not the first such discovery, as several other pieces of evidence have popped up throughout the past that implies humans consumed drugs and alcohol in ancient civilisations.
Representational Image/ Ancient Origins
Ancient Egyptians used alcohol in 3500 BCE, while ancient Chinese people consumed cannabis (the source of marijuana) around 3000 BCE.
Ancient people in what is present-day Switzerland ate poppy seeds (the source of opium) in 2500 BCE.
Coca leaves (the source of cocaine), too, have been chewed for thousands of years by ancient Homo sapiens around the world.
For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Kumar Debvrat is a copyeditor at Indiatimes. He writes about trending topics in India, from human-interest stories to cricket. He has a sharp eye for detail and a passion for storytelling.