Earliest known signs of cannabis smoking unearthed in China

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/12/earliest-known-signs-of-cannabis-smoking-unearthed-in-china

by jajag • 7 years ago

144 39 7 years ago

velox_io• 7 years ago

There's a fascinating documentary called: 'The Lost History of Cannabis'. It goes through how religion seems to be intertwined with cannabis. For instance the 'anointment oils'. How it probably wasn't Mer gifted by one of the Three Wise Men (I tend to agree).

Found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2p6qFT_Zjg

ct02• 7 years ago

I could imagine why religion was so much more popular in early history now.

otisfunkmeyer• 7 years ago

favorite comment here in some time.

xkcd-sucks• 7 years ago

I mean yeah all religions start out as nutty cults and calcify with age

malvosenior• 7 years ago

Residues of high potency cannabis found in the burners

I wonder what they mean by high potency. I was under the impression that cannabis strength has increased a lot in the past 30 years. Do they mean that this ancient cannabis was of a strength similar to modern cannabis or just that it was higher in THC concentration than a natural plant would be?

badosu• 7 years ago

Probably residues from high potency parts like flowers.

ct02• 7 years ago

Most likely higher then a wild plant, potentially implying cultivation.

wavefunction• 7 years ago

Or simply processing many plants into hash such has been done for millenia in various cultures around the world.

codr72• 7 years ago

The best stuff [0] is still obtained by simply rubbing flowers between the hands until enough resin accumulates, it wouldn't surprise me if they had already figured that one out.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charas

skellera• 7 years ago

We have much better extraction methods these days using solvents.

caymanjim• 7 years ago

The article covers this:

Researchers have found remnants of cannabis at ancient sites in Central Asia before, but the latest discovery points to the intentional use of plants with high levels of the active compound, THC, and to cannabis being inhaled rather than ingested.

and later:

“To our excitement we identified the biomarkers of cannabis, notably chemicals related to the psychoactive properties of the plant,” said Yimin Yang at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Specifically, the scientists found cannabinol, a substance produced when THC is oxidised. Given the lack of other cannabis breakdown products, the scientists believe the plants were selected to be high in THC, but whether they were cultivated or found in the wild is unclear.

benbreen2• 7 years ago

I love this finding, in part because (as the article notes briefly here) it helps back up Herodotus' account of cannabis use in his Histories. Specifically this bit from Book 4, 73-75:

"After the burial the Scythians cleanse themselves as follows: they anoint and wash their heads and, for their bodies, set up three poles leaning together to a point and cover these over with wool mats; then, in the space so enclosed to the best of their ability, they make a pit in the center beneath the poles and the mats and throw red-hot stones into it. . . . the Scythians then take the seed of this κάνναβις (kannabis) and, crawling into the tents, throw it on the red-hot stones, where it smoulders and sends forth such fumes that no Greek vapor-bath could surpass it. The Scythians howl in their joy at the vapor-bath. This serves them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water."

What's especially fascinating to me is that Herodotus wrote that account circa 440 BCE, within a few decades of when this find has been dated, and his "Scythians" were probably part of a larger cultural group of Indo-European nomads stretching to what is now Western China.

will_brown• 7 years ago

What is a “Greek vapor bath”? In this context it sounds like it would compete with cannabis.

Maybe a reference to something like what got the Oricle of Delphi high? Is it just reference to a regular Greek hot bath?

benbreen2• 7 years ago

I would think he's just referencing public steam baths, not unlike hammams or saunas today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Baths

leetcrew• 7 years ago

Maybe a reference to something like what got the Oricle of Delphi high?

probably not. contemporary writers connected the oracle's "powers" to vapors rising from the spring below the temple.

flyGuyOnTheSly• 7 years ago

What is a “Greek vapor bath”?

A bath or Thermae as they are known as which are still in existence today. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermae

volcanism• 7 years ago

I'm thinking yeah, it's a nod to the hypoxia induced through immersion in volcanic fumes from thermal venting in a pagan religion oriented stone enclosure.

jcims• 7 years ago

take the seed of this κάνναβις

Thought it was strange that such an ancient word would closely match what we call it today... The etymology page on wikipedia credits that term as the origin of the modern word.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_cannabis

EForEndeavour• 7 years ago

And it's definitely not alone: a huge amount of scientific nomenclature for organisms comes from Greek or Latin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_and_Greek_words_...

rgrieselhuber• 7 years ago

TIL that Scythia smelled like Berkeley.

apengwin• 7 years ago

go bears!

gnulinux• 7 years ago

For those who don't get the reference: Berkeley, CA smells like weed all the time because a lot of people smoke weed in the public. Even UC Berkeley campus (e.g. Memorial Glade) smells weed pretty often.

kiliantics• 7 years ago

But the seed has no psychoactive compounds in it. Unless "seed" here is not meant literally or misinterpreted?

I do like the idea that the original use was in a hot box though.

e40• 7 years ago

And why is no one talking about the fact they never bathed? No amount of being high would cover that up.

raducu• 7 years ago

Or maybe not just the seeds. Maybe it was the whole buds and seeds and Herodotus or whoever told him, not knowing what the active substance was thought it was the seeds.

asdff2• 7 years ago

They probably didn't get high. Wild plants have pretty low THC levels compared to a domesticated strain.

throwaway76524• 7 years ago

And upon leaving the wool encasement the Scythians would begin a massive feast

hurrdurr2• 7 years ago

It's really interesting how stable CBN is after oxidizing from THC... it also apparently has a strong anti-anxiety effect similar to benzos. It is currently in a lot of cannabis sleep aids.

microtherion• 7 years ago

So do the Chinese call it "820" ?

SN76477• 7 years ago

I often thought that the parts of the bible that talk about burning incense could be speaking of intoicating effects such as cannabis.

Fascinating find.

cronix• 7 years ago

This article from 2008 seems to predate it. It also talked about sensimilla crops (separating males from females for cultivation).

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28034925/ns/technology_and_science...

_emacsomancer_• 7 years ago

Here is the area the article discusses, the Pamir mountains: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Sa...

It is in present-day far western China, an area which is historically in the Indian/Iranian sphere of influence.

Earliest known signs of cannabis smoking unearthed in China

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