psychoactive plant use in the old world.pdf

8/11/2019 PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD.pdf

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Economic Botany 57(3) pp. 295323. 2003 2003 by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE TRADITION OFP SYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE O LD W ORLD

M. D. M ERLINUNIVERSITY OF HAWAI I AT MANOA , HONOLULU , HI 96822

We live in an age when a divine vision isdismissed as an hallucination, and desire to ex-perience a direct communication with god is of-ten interpreted as a sign of mental illness. Nev-ertheless, some scholars and scientists assert thatsuch visions and communications are fundamen-tally derived from an ancient and ongoing cul-tural tradition. The hypothesis presented heresuggests that humans have a very ancient tra-dition involving the use of mind-altering expe-riences to produce profound, more or less spir-itual and cultural understanding.

A cross-cultural survey of relevant ethno-graphic literature involving 488 societies in the1970s indicated that 90% (437) of these groupsinstitutionalized, culturally patterned forms analtered state of consciousness. The highestrates (97%) were among the societies of ab-original North America and the lowest (80%)in the Circum-Mediterranean region, whichincludes North Africa, the Near East, andsouthern and western Europe as well as overseasEuropeans (Bourguignon 1973). A large per-centage of these altered states are producedthrough consumption of psychoactive drug plantsubstances, supporting the idea that . . . theubiquity of mind-altering agents in traditionalsocieties cannot be doubtedjust as the moodsof industrial societies are set by a balance of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, among many oth-ers (Sherratt 1995a; Fig. 1).

Traditionally, the use of the great majority of mind-altering drug plants has been strongly as-

sociated with ritual and/or religious activity; in-deed, ritualized consumption in various forms,may be unequivocally religious, as in theChristian Eucharist or the complex wine-offer-ings to the ancestors in the elaborate bronze ves-sels of Shang and Zhou dynast China (Sherratt1995b). Customary, or pre-industrial, motiva-tions for ingestion of psychoactive organic ma-

terials have been predominantly dictated by spir-itual and/or medicinal requirements. On the oth-er hand, contemporary, modern use in varioussocieties, especially in those areas affected byWestern Civilization, is often inspired by per-sonal recreational desires to experience eu-phoria, and frequently is impelled by peer grouppressure.

An early relationship between humans andpsychoactive plants, often within a highly ritu-alized, ceremonial context has been suggestedby a number of authors (Allegro 1970; Emboden1979; Furst 1972; Goodman et al. 1995; LaBarre 1970, 1972, 1980; Schultes et al. 2002;Sherratt 1991, 1995b; Wasson 1968; Wilbert1972; Wohlberg 1990). A number of these au-thors believe this kind of use of consciousness-altering plants provided the inspiration for initialhuman religious experiences, even perhaps threeof the worlds largest religions, Hinduism (Was-son 1968), Judaism (Dure 2001; Merkur 2000),and Christianity (Allegro 1970; Ruck et al.2001). Although this hypothesis and some of thespecic case studies (e.g., Allegro 1970) havebeen widely dismissed as erroneous, others con-tinue to call attention to the importance of psy-choactive drug plant use by humans and the or-igin of spiritual concepts (e.g., Smith 2000, alsosee Rudgley 1994, 1998, and Roberts 2001). Forexample, according to some classical scholars,Christianity evolved within the milieu of Judaicand Hellenistic healing cults, magic, and theMystery initiations: All four of these inevitably

imply a sacred ethnopharmacology, with tradi-tions going back to earlier ages of the ancientworld (see Ruck et al. 2001).

This relationship with mind-altering organ-isms is very old. It may have even originatedbefore the evolution of our own genus, but moreprobably within the temporal span of our ownspecies well back into the Pleistocene.


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296 [VOL. 57ECONOMIC BOTANY

Fig. 1. Semi-wild opium poppy, Papaver somnifer-um.

In a 1970 journal article in Economic Botany

(24: 7380), the ethnobotanist Richard EvansSchultes asked the anthropologist Weston LaBarre a question concerning the known distri-bution of traditional psychoactive drug plant usein the Old and New Worlds. Schultes wanted toknow why there are so few known psychoactivedrug plants associated with traditional culturaluse in the Old World. He pointed out that al-though there is much more ecological diversityand a much longer history of human occupationin the Old World, the New World has manymore of these known culturally-associatedplants of the gods.

La Barre argued that there must have been

numerous other species that were used in theOld World for such purposes, but the rise of civ-ilization, and in particular monotheism eliminat-ed most of these traditions in the Old World (andin those areas of the New World, where Euro-pean religious inuence has affected the pre-contact uses of such species). More fundamen-tally, La Barre argued that humans, at least in

pre-industrial contexts, have been culturallyprogrammed to nd plants (or fungi) that allowthem to communicate with the ancestors (or theirspirit world). He suggested that this traditiongoes back into the Paleolithic Era, long beforethe invention of agriculture when people wereall hunters and gatherers. According to his the-sis, as bands of humans spread out into new re-gions, including new ecological situations, theycarried with them a culturally inspired motiva-tion to nd and use species of plants or fungithat would allow them to transcend their nor-mal consciousness and enable them to com-municate with their ancestors or godsin es-sence, their spirit world.

The archaeological and paleobotanical recordsoffer evidence for these assertions, albeit some-

what fragmentary now. However, with the pow-erful tools of modern science and human imag-ination, our understanding of our deep-rooteddesire to experience ecstasy in the original senseof the word (to break the mind free from thebody and communicate with the gods or theancestors) will become clear with time. This re-view, utilizing archaeology and paleobotany,with its varying time depths in different regions,documents the antiquity of a very widespreadtradition of human association with psychoac-tive species of plants and fungi in the OldWorld, particularly Eurasia.

In modern societies, psychoactive materials

are used in a variety of ways. These include re-ligious, medical, and secular applications, whichin ancient times may or may not have beenviewed as separate. For example, in the case of Neolithic Europe, Sherratt (1991) argued thatpsychoactive (narcotic) substances were con-sumed in a ritualistic context: Such religioususes would no doubt have included medicinaluses as well, since it would be articial to sep-arate physical healing from ritual observance.However, Sherratt (1995b) also suggested thatevidence for the employment of substances suchas opium or cannabis at various times in the pastshould not immediately be interpreted as an in-

dication either of profound ritual signicance orof widespread employment for largely hedonis-tic purposes: they may simply belong to the ma-terial medica. Under most conditions, in non-industrial societies, psychoactive substanceswere often, if not always used in ritualistic, re-ligious contexts.

Mind-altering plant species, including the


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2003] 297MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD

Fig. 2. Ancient Greek depiction of opium poppycapsule or pomegranate fruit? (Courtesy of Mrs. Suz-anne Labiner, Beverly Hills, California).

ones discussed below, can produce a variable al-tered state of consciousness depending upon thequality and quantity of the psychoactive chem-icals ingested, as well as the psychological setof the user and the social-environmental settingin which the substance is consumed (Julien2001).

M ETHODOLOGYData used to support the hypothetical, wide-

spread, ancient use of psychoactive drug specieshas been extracted from the literature of variousdisciplines such as anthropology, archaeology,ethnobotany, and palynology. Dating of evi-dence varies in technique and relative reliability.Most of the evidence has been dated using theradiocarbon method; some chronological docu-

mentation has relied on reference to the writtenrecord.The archaeological evidence for psychoactive

drug plant research has traditionally come in twoforms, artifactual and paleoethnobotanical. Theadvantages and disadvantages of both forms of evidence must be considered. All artifactual ev-idence is subject to some type of interpretationand reconstruction. Disagreement may arise con-cerning the specic identication of the organ-ism that the artifact is supposed to represent, aswell as the interpretation of its artistic, religious,medicinal or other practical use or inspiration.The paleoethnobotanical record is much less

subjective. However difculties in assigningspecimens to specic taxa may occur (Pearsall1989), and conrmation of its putative use byhumans is also sometimes difcult or even con-tentious. The most reliable information shouldbe a combination of the two types of archaeo-logical evidence. Although scholars ideallyshould identify the species symbolic meaningsfrom depictions on artifacts and their [macro-fossil or microfossil] presence in archaeologicalsediments (Popper and Hastorf 1988:2), thediscovery of this kind of corroborative evidencehas been rare.

Much of the evidence from Europe is paleo-

botanical, while in other areas such as the NearEast the evidence is usually limited to artifactsand their interpretation. This reects regionaltechniques, biases, and the amount of researchundertaken by archaeologists working in theseareas. A scarcity or lack of evidence from anarea should not be assumed to represent the ac-tual prehistoric preference or use of a plant.

Artifact interpretation may vary between dif-ferent schools of archaeological theory, or sim-ply may differ in the identication of what spe-cies is represented. For example, an evolution-ary theorist may be hard pressed to refer to aclay gurine as a religious object because it ap-pears to have enormous breasts and hips; or ar-tifacts depicting globular fruit may seem tosome to be representations of opium poppy ( Pa-

paver somniferum L.) capsules, but to othersthey appear be depictions of pomegranate ( Pun-ica granatum L.) fruits (see Fig. 2, also see Mer-lin 1984). The most basic biological interpreta-tions of an artifact may be the least controversialand most reliable. For example, a painting in anEgyptian tomb may depict a specic plant spe-cies, such as the Egyptian lotus or blue waterlily ( Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f. var. caerulea(Sav.) Verdc. N. caerulea Savigny), which canbe more clearly identied and referenced. How-ever, any interpretation beyond identicationwithout supplemental evidence such as referenc-es from papyri may be premature or inaccurate.

Documentary evidence is usually not available.Therefore, a prudent interpretation of archaeo-logical remains must take into account the con-text and associations of the artifact within thesite.

Paleoethnobotany, as a subeld of ethnobot-any, is concerned with elucidating human-plantrelations in the past through study of archaeo-


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Fig. 3. Poppy capsules, circa 4,200 years old, re-covered from small grass woven baskets found in aburial cave of Cueva de los Murcielagos near Albunolin the southern Spanish province of Granada (fromNeuwiler 1935).

Fig. 4. Ancient evidence for Papaver somniferumin the Western Mediterranean, comes in the form of capsules recovered from small grass woven basketsfound in a burial cave (Cueva de los Murcielagos) nearAlbunol in the southern Spanish province of Granada.

Fig. 5. The small vial holds 4,500 year old, Neo-lithic opium poppy seeds recovered from a Cortaillodsettlement at Seeufersidlung Twann on the shores of Lake Bieler, Switzerland in 1975 (courtesy of Fritz H.Schweingruber, Swiss Federal Institute of Forestry Re-search).

logical plant remains (Pearsall 1989). These re-mains consist of three types: macrofossil re-mains, pollen grains, and phytoliths. Macrofossilremains may be desiccated, burned, or water-logged wood, leaves, fruits or seeds that may berecovered in situ by screening techniques or o-tation. Some paleoethnobotanical nds recov-ered from ancient sites in the early stages of ar-chaeological research were not carefully extract-ed from non-disturbed contexts, for example,opium poppy capsules from southern Spain,(Gongora 1868; Fig. 3 and 4) and opium poppyseeds from various central European sites (Mer-lin 1984; Fig. 5 and 6). Although these fossils

cannot be dated or placed in the most accuratecontexts as possible, they are some the most di-rect ancient evidence of the presence and prob-able use of this species in the region.

Pollen consists of three layers: living cell, in-tine, and exine, and of these three layers onlyexine remains in fossilized pollen. Identicationof fossil pollen is based upon identication of the structure, form and apertures of the exine.Phytoliths are opal silica bodies found in plants.They may provide important information fromarchaeological sites that are not conducive to thepreservation of macrofossil remains or pollen.The ability to identify any paleoethnobotanical

remains relies on comparative reference collec-tions. Some pollen is especially difcult to iden-tify, and may only be recognized as belongingto a particular family or genus rather than theexact species. The size and extent of paleoeth-nobotanical collections varies between differentregions and areas, often based on the history andextent of archaeological research. When it is

possible the archaeological nds and referenceswill be analyzed for accuracy and reliability inthe three areas of archaeological interest out-lined above: artifact interpretation, paleoethno-botanical analysis and dating techniques.

R ESULTSSelected evidence is presented below for a

limited number of psychoactive species or gen-era in the Old World, especially for those thathave a relatively more extensive, ancient, ar-chaeological record of association with humans.Within the discussion of each taxa, references

will be examined, where appropriate and feasi-ble, in an order based on antiquity of the evi-dence, and according to their cultural dispersal


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Fig. 6. Ancient fossil evidence for Papaver somniferum in the Swiss Foreland and surrounding areas.


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or the geographical distribution of their knownancient use.

The ancient archaeological record is reviewedin detail for the following taxa: Ephedra L., Per-ganum harmala L., Papaver somniferum L.,Cannabis L., Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f. var.caerulea (Sav.) Verdc., and Mandragora ofci-narum L. As noted above, some species thathave been used for mind-altering purposes havealso been employed for a variety of other rea-sons. These multi-purpose plants include, for ex-ample, Cannabis (true hemp) which has beengrown for ber production, seed food for hu-mans and animals, as an oil source, and, of course, for its psychoactive resin. Therefore theneed to verify the archaeological context whichsupports the argument that the species was pre-

sent and used as a mind-altering substance isdesirable, if not crucial. This also applies to Pa- paver somniferum (the opium poppy), whoseseeds could come from eld weeds or havebeen used as a food or oil plant, rather than assource of opiates. Furthermore, in the case of Ephedra, plants in this genus could have beenburned for fuel. Nevertheless, there is strongreason to believe that all of the species featuredin this survey were used, at least in part, forritualistic, spiritual purposes reecting the an-cient relationships of humans and psychoactiveplants for religious inspiration.

E PHEDRAAs a member of the Gymnosperm Division

Gnetophyta, an enigmatic group of seed plants,the genus Ephedra includes 45 to 50 species.These perennial, dioecious, small shrubs (andone small, tree-like form) are a small, extraor-dinary group of plants adapted to arid condi-tions. They have photosynthetic stems with noleaves, and are found in cool, dry areas of Asia,Europe, Africa, North America and South Amer-ica.

The oldest date for a potentially psychoactiveplant in a cultural context is from the Neander-thal burial site at Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq

where pollen of an Ephedra species ( E. altissimaWillk., cf. Leroi-Gourhan 1975; Solecki 1971)was dated to more than 50,000 B.C. (Solecki1975). The Shanidar limestone cave, now locat-ed over 700 meters above sea level yielded soilsamples extracted from around the male burialknown as Shanidar IV. Two of the samples con-tained a large quantity of pollen grains repre-

senting a number of plant species. This evidencehas been used to support the hypothesis that thehominid body was deliberately, and perhaps rit-ualistically buried on a bed of woody branchesand owers sometime between May and July,when the owers of many of the species werein bloom.

Palynological analysis identied a number of species including Achillea -type, Centaurea sol-stitialis, Senecio -type, Muscari -type, Althea -type and Ephedra altissima (Leroi-Gourhan1975); and a subsequent phytopharmacologicalevaluation of the therapeutic potential of theseplants revealed their objective healing activity(Lietava 1992). This medical utility could haveencouraged the intentional selection of theseplant species by the Middle Paleolithic Shanidar

Neanderthals. Ephedra altissima yields ephed-rine, an alkaloid that produces sympatomimeticand amphetamine-like effects (Teuscher 1979),as well as euphoria (Wenke 1986:579). There-fore it may have served as an entheogen for rit-ualistic, spiritual purposes, and/or a medicinal.

However, not everyone has agreed with thehypothesis that the placement of the oweringplant offerings at the burial site was a consciouschoice of the Neanderthals (e.g., see Sommer1999). The original report described the exis-tence of animal holes around the burial alongwith the fossil remains of the Persian jird( Meriones persicus Blanford). This rodent spe-

cies lives in large colonies and is known to storelarge amount of seeds and owers in its bur-rows. Indeed excavators identied numerous jirdburrows near the burial, and 70% of all the ro-dent bone recovered from Shanidar Cave wasfrom this jird species. Analysis of jird burrowshas also revealed the remains of many of thesame owers that were found around ShanidarIV. Thus the presence of ower pollen aroundthe skeleton may not have been the result of rit-ualistic activity, but simply the establishment of jird burrows following the burial (Sommer1999).

Ephedra has sometimes been referred to as

source of the active ingredient for the ancientsoma (or haoma ) beverage that was used for rit-ualistic and religious purposes over a wide re-gion that included areas now referred to as Indiaand Iran, and perhaps a much broader range(e.g., see Rudgley 1998). Soma has been closelyidentied with the Indo-Iranians, people whoseancient home land was located somewhere in


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Central Asia. According to most archaeologicalinterpretations, this early culture divided intotwo separate groups approximately 4,000 yearsago. One group became the ancient Iranian peo-ples, the other, the Indo-Aryans, migrated southinto what is now Afganistan and the Indus Val-ley. These two groups of people preserved ex-tensive, religious oral traditions that were sub-sequently rendered in written form as the RigVeda of the Indians and the Avesta of the Ira-nians. Central rituals in both of these ancientcultural traditions involved consumption of anentheogenic (spiritually stimulating) plant orfungus. This psychoactive species (or mixture of species) was called soma by the Indians andhaoma by the Iranians. Similar rituals are per-formed by some of the descendants of these peo-

ples who now use substitutes for soma that arenot mind-altering; however, the identity of theoriginal, sacred, mind-altering species has re-mained a mystery for many centuries. A largenumber of species were put forward as putativecandidates for soma during 19th and 20th cen-turies (e.g., see Merlin 1972).

After many decades of debate about the iden-tity of the psychoactive substance in the soma/ haoma drink, R. Gordon Wassons (1968) pub-lication of Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immor-tality, argued very persuasively that the y-aga-ric mushroom, Amanita muscaria (Fr. Ex L.)Quel. is the species in question. Wassons ar-

gument was based mainly on ancient Indiansources. A majority of scholars accepted his the-sis. However, a couple of decades later, Flatteryand Schwartz (1989) argued effectively for Syr-ian rue ( Perganum harmala, Zygophyllaceae),which was originally identied as the source of soma by Sir William Jones in 1794. Flattery andSchwartz relied primarily upon Iranian evidenceto support their assertion that soma should beidentied with P. harmala since this species isstill well-known for its psychoactive effects inthe home land region of the Indo-Iranians.

Evidence that human used P. harmala in thefth millennium B.C. has been recovered from

the Caucasus region (Lisitsyna and Prishcepen-ko 1977); and according to Miller (2003), P.harmala becomes more common in the thirdmillennium [ B.C.] archaeobotanical samples inthe Near East, and is therefore likely to be as-sociated with overgrazing. However, it mayhave been used for religious purposes, or, as itis employed today in some areas of this region,

simply to ward off evil spirits or as a good luck charm.

More recently, however, Ephedra has been re-asserted as the source of the soma drug basedon archaeological evidence recovered from Rus-sian excavations at Gonur depe, the 4,000 year-old Zoroastrian capital in the Kara Kum de-sert of Turkmenistan, known in ancient times asMargiana. The Gonur depe complex is part of the previously unknown Bronze Age civilizationin Bactria (North Afghanistan) and Margiana(Turkmenistan). Now referred to as the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), ithad two distinct cultural periods, the rst be-tween 1900 and 1700 B.C. and the second be-tween 1700 and 1500 B.C. (Parpola 1994). AtGonur depe, archaeologists found monumental

sites dated to the rst half of the second millen-nium B.C. (Sarianidi 1994).The Gonur South area of this site comprises

a fortied compound of buildings. A large sa-cred re temple shrine situated within thiscompound has two parts; one appears to havebeen used for public worship, but the other wasa hidden inner sanctum of the priesthoodwhich consists of private rooms (cf. Rudgley1998). Analysis of the contents in ceramic bowlsfound in at least one of these private rooms byProfessor Meier-Melikyan (1990) revealed thetraces of both Cannabis and Ephedra. It hasbeen suggested that both of these psychoactive

substances had been used in conjunction in themaking of psychoactive drinks. Ten ceramic pot-stands found in a room adjoining the innersanctum seem to have been used in combina-tion with strainers designed to separate thejuices from the twigs, stems and leaves of theplants (Rudgley 1998; cf. Sarianidi 1994). Abasin in another room at the other end of theshrine contained a large quantity of Cannabis,along with pottery stands and strainers that alsoappear to have used to make mind-altering, rit-ualistic beverages.

A pottery strainer, comparable to those foundat shrine at Gonur South, that was also used ap-

parently to concoct psychoactive beverages, wasrecovered from the shrine at the site of Togoluk 1 (mid-second millennium B.C.), although re-mains of mind-altering plants have not been dis-covered in this site. In addition, vessels found inshrine at a third settlement, Togoluk 21 (late sec-ond millennium B.C.) contained remains of Ephedra and the opium poppy ( P. somniferum );


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moreover, an engraved bone tube containingpoppy pollen was also recovered from thissame shrine (Sarianidi 1994).

The architecturally impressive temples in theGonur depe complex of the BMAC are dated tothe period of the early Mesopotamian civiliza-tion; and the discovery of ritual vessels datedbetween 20001000 B.C. with the remains of mind-altering drug plants in these temple shrinesshow that soma in its Iranian form haoma maybe considered as a composite psychoactive sub-stance comprising of Ephedra and Cannabis(see Cannabis section below) in one instanceand Ephedra and opium (see Papaver somnifer-um section below) in another. (Rudgley 1998;cf. Parpola 1994).

According to Miller (2003), photographs of

the Ephedra, Cannabis, and Papaver, and ar-chaeological specimens presented in the Togo-lok-21 report by Meier-Melikyan (1990), appearto be consistent with the respective species;however, the determination of the Papaver spe-cies needs further study to conrm that it is P.somniferum. Indeed, Miller suggests that thepoppy seeds could have come from eld weedsor have been used as a food plant rather than asan opiate source for medicine or ritual. Milleralso points out that in an arid climate, the woodof Ephedra could have been burned for fuel.Other scientists, who have critically reviewedthe evidence for Cannabis in the Central Asian

BMAC sites, concluded that the clay impres-sions from Gonur Temenos which are claimedto have been made with hemp ( Cannabis ) bySarianidi (in Appendix I of Margiana and pro-tozorastrism) are clearly of [Millet] Panicummiliaceum (Bakels 2003; Nesbitt 2002).

Ephedra species have, indeed, been used me-dicinally for hundreds, even thousands of yearsin the regions where they grow. Ma huang( Ephedra sinica Stapf.), also known as Tsaopen- Ma Huang, is a shrub, 30 to 50 cm in height,native to East Asia. An oral tradition in Chinadating back to approximately 2800 B.C., whichis associated with the legendary rst Chinese

emperor and herbalist or shaman, Shen Nong (orShen Nung), refers to the medicinal use of thedried stems of Ma Huang to cure multiple ail-ments such as the common cold, coughs, asth-ma, headaches, and hay fever. Ephedra (ma-huang) pollen has been recovered from theBanpo sites (dated to ca. 4800 to 4300 B.C.) of the Neolithic Yangshao culture in east Xian, in

the Shaanxi Province of China (Manhong andJianzhong 1990). The earliest written records of Ma Huang use can be found in a classic Chinesecompilation of herbs called Shen Nong Ben CaoJing (Flaws 1998), which dates back to the rstcentury A.D. This early, studious treatise is acompilation of the greater part of all the knowl-edge about herbal medicine before the Han dy-nasty, discussing the uses of 365 ancient medic-inal plants.

P APAVER SOMNIFERUM The most ancient evidence for opium poppy

use comes from sites in the Mediterranean re-gion. Remarkable new evidence for a very oldopium poppy association with humans was re-cently discovered in the underwater La Mar-

motta site in Lake Bracciano, Italy, northwest of Rome about 35 kilometers from the TyrrhenianSea. This site has been submerged by rising wa-ters of the lake; however, approximately 7,700years ago this small city was accessible fromthe sea by boat via the Arrone River. Italian ar-chaeologists, sifting through the ruins of thisStone Age settlement, believe the La Marmottasite was occupied by an early European Neolith-ic farming community which lasted for about500 years (Kunzig 2002). Many organic remainswere well preserved underneath 3 meters of limeat the bottom of lake. Among the remarkablediscoveries of preserved remains of plant and

animal material are P. somniferum seeds whichwere presumably cultivated for food, oil, medi-cine, and possibly cult use (Fugazzola 2003).The bigger discovery concerns a great moth-er [with] palaeolithic [features] in a room of this Neolithic settlement [and thus the] poppyseeds of La Marmotta have been found in as-sociation with [a] religious [cult] room (Sa-morini 2003). The fossil seeds from this Italiansite are the oldest known seeds of P. somniferumfound in association with humans, indicatingthat use and cultivation of the opium poppydates back at least to the early Neolithic.

Although the archaeological evidence for P.

somniferum presented above does not necessar-ily point toward mind-altering use, the followingremark is insightful: The opium poppy hasbeen cultivated since Neolithic times, perhaps inthe rst place for poppy-seed oil, but who candoubt that its narcotic property enhanced its val-ue (Dimbleby 1967; also see Merlin 1984).

Cult use of the opium poppy approximately


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2500 years ago (VIIIVI century B.C.) in south-east region of the Italian peninsula (FoggiaProvince) has been interpreted from the archae-ological remains (steles) of the pre-Roman Dau-ni culture (Leone 1995, 1995-96; Nava 1988).Leone (1995) hypothesizes that the sphere-shaped pendants worn at the belt by the femi-nine Daunian Stelae represent opium plants, Pa- paver Somniferum. She believes that the sig-nicant spiritual role the plant played mayhave made it a monopoly of the priestly caste,and that these illustrated pillars bearing inscrip-tions assume a new signicance in the light of this hypothesis.

Archaeobotanical evidence for opium poppyuse has also been found recently in an ancientRoman farmhouse ( villa rustica ) excavated in

1996 near Pompeii (at Villa Vesuvio, southernItaly). At the bottom of one of the storage vats(dolia ) discovered in the cellar of this farmhouse(which is typical of other such structures of thesame time of the great eruption, 79 A.D.) was ahigh percentage of seeds from plants associatedwith medicinal use, including Papaver somniferum ; these seeds were recovered along withbones of reptiles and amphibians, suggestingthat this assemblage is the residue of a medic-inal preparation (Ciaraldi 2000). Remains of apoppy seed cake were also found in a ritualcontext from the city of Pompeii, in a typicalatrium building known as the House of the

Wedding of Hercules (Ciaraldi and Richardson2000). These votive offerings probably hon-ored the goddess Isis/Demeter. Although thisevidence of opium poppy use was excavatedfrom deposits dated to the end of the secondcentury BC to AD 79, it is more likely that theywere probably deposited in the 1st century A .D.(Ciaraldi 2003).

Ancient evidence for P. somniferum in theWestern Mediterranean, comes in the form of capsules recovered from small grass woven bas-kets from a burial cave (Cueva de los Murcie-lagos) near Albunol in the southern Spanishprovince of Granada (Gongora 1868; Neuwiler

1935; see Fig. 3). These capsules have been ra-diocarbon-dated to c. 4,200 years old (Giner1980).

A relatively large amount of archaeologicalevidence and literary reference to the ancient useof the opium poppy from the Eastern Mediter-ranean region has been uncovered for its use asfood, medicine, and cult activities. This evi-

dence reaches as far back as the Late BronzeAge, and possibly earlier. In this region evidencefor P. somniferum comes predominantly in theform of artifacts recovered from Late BronzeAge sites in Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Pal-estine, and Syria (e.g., Emboden 1981, 1989;Gabra 1956; Kritikos and Papadaki 1967; Mar-inatos 1937; Merlin 1984; Merrillees 1968,1999; Mylonas 1966; Quibell and Hayter 1927;Randall-MacIver and Wooley 1911; Sciaparelli1927). The types of archaeological evidence andadditional references can be found in Table 1.Some key examples of related artifacts and re-cent direct evidence are discussed below.

According to Merrillees (1999), Possibly theearliest representation of the poppy capsule inthe Aegean world is a small limestone half-cap-

ital, about 5 inches high [12.5 cm], from thePalace of Knossos in Crete. This small artifactresembling a dried-out poppy capsule has aat top representing the stigma, and sphericalbody similar to the poppy seed capsule and thal-amus; it dates to the Late Minoan I (16001450B.C.), and was no doubt made to t on the upperpart of a pillar to resemble a real poppy capsulefastened to its stem (see Evans 1928; Zervos1956).

Most of the evidence for the presence and useof the opium poppy on mainland Greece in theMycenaean period (ca. 15501100 B .C.) is in theform of artifacts with representations of the seed

capsule. However, certitude of these represen-tations has been debated as to whether they de-pict poppy capsules or pomegranate fruits; thelatter also are spherically shaped and havecrowns that are serrated (e.g., see Seeberg 1969,also see Fig. 2). Some of the artifacts in questiondenitely do represent opium poppy capsules, orat least resemble P. somniferum much moreclosely. Among these are two examples from thePeleponnesus that date to approximately 1500B.C. (the transition period from Late Helladic Ito Late Helladic II) which have ribbed bodieswith serrated stigmas. One is a brooch-pine thathas a gold head and a silver stem; the other is a

gold pendant, from Mycenae. As Merrillees(1979) has pointed out, these artifacts with rep-resentations of opium poppy capsules are verysimilar to two gold pins from Anatolia, datingto about 14001200 B .C. (the pins are part of theNorbert Schimmel collection in the New YorksMetropolitan Museum). Besides the exterior fea-tures of these pins that have heads resembling


10/29


T A B L E 1 . C H R O N O L O G I C A L T A B L E O F S E L E C T E D A R C H A E O L O G I C A L E V I D E N C E F O R T H E P R E H I S T O R I C

U S E O F P S Y C H O A C T I V E D R U G P L A N T S I N T H E O L D

W O R L D .

D a t e

S p e c

i e s

L o c a t i o n

E v

i d e n c e

R e f e r e n c e

6 0 0 0 0 B

. P .

E p h e d r a

S h a n i d a r I V , N . I

r a q , B u r i a l S i t e

I V o u t s i d e o f c a v e

M i c r o f o s s i l s : E p h e d r a s p p . p o l l e n

s a m p l e s i n g r a v e

S o l e c k i , 1 9 7 5

1 0 0 0 0 B

. P .

C a n n a b i s

T a i w a n

A r t i f a c t s : p o t t e r y

s h a r d s w / h e m p

r o p e i m p r i n t s , s i m i l a r t o t h o s e

u s e d f r o m s t e m

C h a n g , K

1 9 6 8 ; K u n g , C . T . 1

9 5 9

5 7 0 0 B

. C .

P a p a v e r s o m n i f e r u m

L a M a r m o t t a , L

a k e B r a c c i a n o , I

t a -

l y

M a c r o f o s s i l : P o p p y s e e d s

F u g a z z o l a 2 0 0 3

5 t h M i l l e n n i u m B

. C .

P e g a n u n h a r m a l a

C a u c a s u s

?

L i s i t s y n a a n d P r i s h c e p e n k o 1 9 7 7

4 8 0 0 3

2 0 0 B

. C .

P . s o m n i f e r u m

L a c D e C h a l a i n S i t e , S

w i t z e r l a n d ,

l a k e s i d e h a b i t a t i o n

M a c r o f o s s i l s : P o p p y s e e d s

N e u w e i l e r 1 9 3 5 ; M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

4 1 1 5 3

5 3 5 B

. C .

C a n n a b i s

P a n P o V i l l a g e , W

e i s h u i V a l l e y ,

S . S h e n s i P r o v . , C

h i n a . T

e m -

p e r a t e c l i m a t e

A r t i f a c t s : w e a v i n g d e s i g n o n p o t -

t e r y j a r , h e m p c l o t h i m p r i n t s

o n p o t t e r y j a r .

L i 1 9 7 4

4 0 0 0 3

0 0 0 B

. C .


R o b e n h a u s e n S e t t l e m e n t , L a k e

P f u f k e r , S

w i t z

.

M a c r o f o s s i l s : s e e d s & o n e u n r i p e

c a p s u l e

H e e r 1 8 6 6 ; M e r l i n 1 9 7 9

4 0 0 0 B

. C .


H o r n s t a a d - H o r n l e I , L a k e C o n -

s t a n c e G e r m a n y

M a c r o f o s s i l

C o l e s a n d C o l e s 1 9 8 9

3 6 0 0 B

. C .


N e o l i t h i c S e t t l e m e n t , W e i e r ,

S w i t z

. L a k e s e t t l e m e n t s i t e

M a c r o f o s s i l s : ( l a y e r 1 8 ) 6 1 9 p o p -

p y s e e d s , 4 8 %

o f l a y e r s a m p l e

F r e d s k i l d 1 9 7 8 ; M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

3 3 0 0 B

. C .


C h a r a v i n c e s , L a k e P a l a d r u ,

F r a n c e

M i c r o f o s s i l : P o l l e n

C o l e s a n d C o l e s 1 9 8 9

3 2 0 0 2

6 0 0 B

. C .


C o r t a i l l o d L a k e s h o r e S e t t l e m e n t ,

S e e b e r g , S w i t z

.

M a c r o f o s s i l s : 3 0 0 0 p o p p y s e e d s

V i l l a r e t - V o n R o c h o w 1 9 6 7 ; M e r -

l i n 1 9 8 4

3 2 0 0 2

6 0 0 B

. C .


N i e d e r w i l B

o g S i t e , S

w i t z

. P f y n

C u l t u r e

M i c r o / M a c r o f o s s i l s : P . s

o m n i f e r -

u m i n d i c a t i n g p r e s e n c e a s i m -

p o r t a n t d o m e s t i c a t e d s p e c i e s

v a n Z e i s t a n d C a s p a r i e 1 9 7 4 ;

M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

3 0 0 0 B

. C .


V a v r o v i c e , C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , s e t t l e -

m e n t , e n d o f A t l a n t e a n P e r i o d

M a c r o f o s s i l s : P o p p y s e e d s w / a n -

i m a l f o s s i l s i n s e t t l e m e n t

S i k u l o v a a n d O p r a v i l 1 9 7 4 ; M e r -

l i n 1 9 8 4

2 9 0 0 2

7 0 0 B

. C .


L a g o z z a , N . I

t a l y

M a c r o f o s s i l s : o p i u m p o p p y s e e d s ,

i n d i c a t i n g d o m e s t i c a t i o n

S o r d e l l i 1 8 8 0 ; H o o p s 1 9 0 5 ; M e r -

l i n 1 9 8 4

4 t h D y n . 2

7 2 0 2 5 6 0 B . C

.

N y m p h a e a n o u c h a l i

( s y n N

. c a e r u l e a )

E g y p t

A r t i f a c t : F r e s c o d e p i c t s w a t e r l i l y

a s o f f e r i n g t o O s i r i s

P l e y t e 1 8 7 5 ; E m b o d e n 1 9 8 9

N e o l i t h i c ( n o d a t e )


P o l a n d , Z e

s l a w i c e , R a d i a l D e c o -

r a t e d P o t t e r y C u l t u r e

M a c r o f o s s i l s : 1 2 o p i u m p o p p y

s e e d f o s s i l s

G i z b e r t 1 9 6 1 ; M e r l i n 1 9 8 4


11/29


T A B L E 1 . C O N T I N U E D .

D a t e

S p e c

i e s

L o c a t i o n

E v

i d e n c e

R e f e r e n c e

2 5 0 0 B

. C .


C u e v a d e L o s M u r c i e l o g o s ,

S p a i n , c a v e b u r i a l s i t e

M a c r o f o s s i l s : o p i u m p o p p y c a p -

s u l e s & s e e d s i n e s p a r t a g r a s s

h a n d b a g

G o n g o r a 1 8 6 8 ; M e r l i n

1 9 8 4

2 0 0 0 1

5 0 0 B

. C .


H u g e l g r a b e r ( h i l l t r e n c h / g r a v e )

M i s t e l b a c h , N . A

u s t r i a . g r a v e

s i t e

M a c r o f o s s i l s : P o p p y s e e d f o s s i l s

W e r n e c k 1 9 4 9 ; M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

2 1 0 0 B

. C . ?


N i p p u r , I r a n

A r t i f a c t : m a y c o n t a i n r e f e r e n c e t o

o p i u m p o p p y a s i n g r e d i e n t i n

p r e s c r i p t i o n ?

U n i v . P e n n . A

r t i f a c t # C B S

1 4 2 2 1 ; M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

1 8 t h D y n . 1

5 5 0 1 3 5 0

B . C .


N e w K i n g d o m T o m b s

, B u h e n , S .

E g y p t

A r t i f a c t : c a r n e l i a n v a s i f o r m

p o p p y c a p s u l e

b e a d n e c k l a c e

R a n d a l l - M a c I v e r a n d W o o l e y

1 9 1 1

1 8 t h D y n . 1

5 5 0 1 3 5 0

B . C .


T e t i P y r a m i d

, S a q q a r a , E

g y p t

A r t i f a c t : s t a t u e o f s m a l l n a k e d

b o y w i t h d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e c a r -

n e l i a n p o p p y

c a p s u l e e a r -

r i n g s , f

o u n d i n

c o f n

Q u i b b e l a n d H a y t e r 1 9 2 7

1 8 t h D y n . 1

5 5 0 1 3 5 0

B . C .

M a n d r a g o r a o f c i n a -

r u m

T h e b e s , E g

y p t T o m b o f N a k h t

A r t i f a c t : F r e s c o d e p i c t s m a n d r a k e

f o r p u r i c a t i o n o f n o s t r i l s

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 9

L a t e B r o n z e A g e ( n o

d a t e )


M a r i , S y r i a

A r t i f a c t : L a t e B r o n z e A g e n e c k -

l a c e w / p o p p y c a p s u l e p e n d a n t s

M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

1 8 t h D y n . 1

5 5 0 1 3 5 0

B . C .

( N e w K i n d g o m )


T o m b o f K i n g S i p h t a h & Q u e e n

T a u o s r i t , T h e b e s

A r t i f a c t s : b l u e f a i e n c e c o p y o f

o p i u m p o p p y c a p s u l e ; t w o g o l d

e a r r i n g s w i t h c a p s u l e r e p r e s e n -

t a t i o n ; g o l d n e c k l a c e w i t h g o l d

p o p p y c a p s u l e

p e n d a n t s

M e r r i l l e e s 1 9 6 8

1 6 t h o r 1 5 t h c e n t u r y B . C

.


E g y p t

B a s e - r i n g j u g l e t o n c e h e l d l i q u i d

c o n t a i n i n g c r u d e o p i u m a n d o i l

t h a t s e r v e d a s t h e s o l v e n t

B i s s e t , N

. G . e

t a l . 1 9 9 6 ; K a s -

c h e l , K . 1

9 9 6

1 5 t h c e n t u r y B

. C .


P a l e s t i n e ( p r o b a b l y ) a n d E g y p t

( T e l l e l - A j j u l n e a r G a z a )

B a s e - r i n g j u g l e t o n c e h e l d l i q u i d

c o n t a i n i n g c r u d e o p i u m

M e r r i l l e e s 1 9 8 9

1 5 0 0 1

3 5 0 B

. C .

N . n

o u c h a l i

E g y p t

L i t e r a t u r e : P a p y r u s o f A n i ( B o o k

o f t h e D e a d ) e x p l a i n s & d e -

p i c t s s h a m a n i c t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s

r e l a t e d w / N

. c a e r u l e a

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 1


12/29



D a t e

S p e c

i e s

L o c a t i o n

E v

i d e n c e

R e f e r e n c e

1 8 t h D y n . 1

5 5 0 1 3 5 0

B . C .

N . n

o u c h a l i , M

. o f -

c i n a r u m , P . s

o m n i -

f e r u m

T o m b o f M e n n a , T

o m b o f N e b a -

m u m & I p u k y , T h e b e s

A r t i f a c t s : M e n n a - F r e s c o s h o w s N .

c a e r u l e a o f f e r i n g t o H o r u s . N

e -

b a m u m - F r e s c o

d e p i c t s f u n e r a l

s h a f t s o f N . c a e r u l e a , M . o

f c i -

n a r u m , P . s

o m n i f e r u m

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 1

1 8 t h D y n . 1

5 5 0 1 3 5 0

B . C .


T o m b o f C h a

, E g y p t

M a c r o f o s s i l : a l a b a s t e r v e s s e l c o n -

t a i n i n g o p i u m

S c i a p a r e l l i 1 9 2 7 ; G a b r a 1 9 5 6 ;

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 1

1 3 5 0 B

. C .

N . n

o u c h a l i , M

. o f -

c i n a r u m

T o m b o f S e m e n k h a r a , E g y p t

A r t i f a c t : l i m e s t o n e r e l i e f , h i s c o n -

s o r t M e r i a t h o n

o f f e r s m a n -

d r a k e s & l i l l i e s t o S e m e n k h a r a

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 1

1 3 5 0 1

3 3 8 B

. C .

N . n

o u c h a l i , M

. o f -

c i n a r u m

E g y p t : T o m b o f T u t a n k h a m e n

A r t i f a c t : U n g u e n t j a r d e p i c t s

H a t h o r w i t h n e c k l a c e o f w a t e r

l i l i e s a n d m a n d r a k e

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 9

1 4 t h c e n t . B . C .

N . n

o u c h a l i , M

. o f -

c i n a r u m

T o m b o f T u t a n k h a m e n , E

g y p t

A r t i f a c t s : w a l l s c e n e , T u t h o l d s

N y m p h a e a & t w o m a n d r a k e s ,

w i t h o r n a m e n t a l c o l l a r b e a r i n g

m a n d r a k e f r u i t . C o f f e r e m b e l -

l i s h m e n t , w i f e m i n i s t e r s s i c k

T u t w i t h o p i u m p o p p y , N y m -

p h a e a & m a n d r a k e f r u i t

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 1

1 6 t h o r 1 5 t h c e n t . B . C .


C y p r u s , E g y p t , P a l e s t i n e , E g y p -

t i a n G r a v e s i t e

A r t i f a c t s : C y p r i o t j u g l e t s , B

a s e -

r i n g W a r e v a s e s i n f o r m o f u n -

r i p e p o p p y c a p s u l e ; j u g l e t s

c o n t a i n i n g c r u d e o p i u m

M e r r i l l e e s 1 9 6 2 ; S j o q u i s t 1 9 4 0 ;

M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

1 6 t h o r 1 5 t h c e n t . B . C .


E g y p t

B a s e - r i n g W a r e v a s e i n f o r m o f

u n r i p e p o p p y c a p s u l e , c o n t a i n -

i n g c r u d e o p i u m

B i s s e t e t a l . 1 9 9 6 ; K o c h e l 1 9 9 6 )

1 5 t h c e n t . B . C .


P a l e s t i n e , T e l l e l - A j j u l n e a r G a z a

a n d a n o t h e r u n k n o w n s i t e i n

P a l e s t i n e

2 B a s e - r i n g W a r e v a s e s i n f o r m

o f u n r i p e p o p p y c a p s u l e , c o n -

t a i n i n g c r u d e o p i u m

B i s s e t e t a l . 1 9 9 6 ; K o c h e l 1 9 9 6

1 4 5 0 1

1 0 0 B

. C .


B u r i e d c h a m b e r a t G a z i , C r e t e

A r t i f a c t s : 8 0 c m t a l l t e r r a c o t t a

s t a t u e , w

i t h 3 p i n s r e p r e s e n t i n g

p o p p y c a p s u l e s i n h e a d

B l e g e n 1 9 3 6 ; M e r l i n 1 9 8 4

1 3 5 0 B

. C .


R o y a l T o m b , T e l l E l - A m a r n a ,

E g y p t

A r t i f a c t : n e c k l a c e w i t h g o l d

p o p p y c a p s u l e b e a d s

M e r l i n 1 9 8 4


13/29



D a t e

S p e c

i e s

L o c a t i o n

E v

i d e n c e

R e f e r e n c e

1 3 0 9 1

2 2 4 B

. C .

N . n

o u c h a l i

T e m p l e o f S e t h o s I , A b y d o s ,

E g y p t

A r t i f a c t : r e l i g i o u s s c e n e s h o w s

b l u e w a t e r - l i l y

o f f e r i n g t o H o -

r u s

J a m e s 1 9 8 2

1 2 3 0 B

. C .

N y m p h a e a a l b a s a v .

T o m b s o f R a m s e s I I & A m e n h o -

t e p I , E g y p t

M a c r o f o s s i l s : N . a l b a p e t a l s i n

f u n e r a l w r e a t h s a b o u t m u m -

m i e s

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 1 ; S c h w e i n f u r t h

1 8 8 4

1 2 3 0 B

. C .

N . n

o u c h a l i

E g y p t : T o m b s o f R a m s e s I I a n d

A m e n h o t e p I

M a c r o f o s s i l : f u n e r a l g a r l a n d s

P l e y t e 1 8 7 5 ; E m b o d e n 1 9 8 9

1 2 2 0 B

. C .


B u r n e d P a l a c e , B e y e e s u l t a n , A n a -

t o l i a

, C y p r u s T e m p l e # 4

A r t i f a c t / M a c r o f o s s i l : o p i u m

p i p e ,

p o p p y s e e d s f o u n d i n a

f o o t e d b o w l

K a r a g e o r g h i s 1 9 7 6

2 0 t h D y n . 1

2 0 0 1 0 8 5 B

. C .

N . n

o u c h a l i

T h e b e s , E g

y p t

A r t i f a c t : F r e s c o d e p i c t s w a t e r l i l y

f o r p u r i c a t i o n o f n o s t r i l s

E m b o d e n 1 9 8 9

1 1 2 2 2

4 9 B

. C .

C a n n a b i s .

B u r i a l s i t e , C h i n a , C

h o u D y n a s t y

A r i f a c t / M a c r o f o s s i l : C l o t h f r a g -

m e n t s m a d e o f h e m p

L i 1 9 7 4

1 0 0 0 B

. C .

C a n n a b i s

D e b r i s p i l e , G

o r d i o n , (

n e a r A n j a -

r a ) T u r k e y

A r t i f a c t : p i e c e s o f h e m p c l o t h

B e l i n g e r 1 9 6 2

9 0 0 B

. C .


I r a q

A r t i f a c t : B a s r e l i e f , p h y s i c i a n

h o l d i n g p o p p y

p l a n t ( d i s p u t e d

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n )

K i l g o u r 1 9 6 2

8 0 7 7 7 9 B

. C .


A u v e r n i e r - N

o r d , L a k e N e u c h a t e l ,

S w i t z

.

M a c r o f o s s i l : S u g g e s t s c u l t i v a t i o n

C o l e s a n d C o l e s 1 9 8 9

6 6 8 6 2 6 B

. C .


I r a n

A r t i f a c t : A s s y r i a n m e d i c a l t a b l e t

m a y s h o w k n o w l e d g e o f m e -

d i c i n a l u s e o f o p i u m

T h o m a s 1 9 4 9

5 0 0 3 0 0 B

. C .


T h e A g o r a , A

t h e n s , G r e e c e O p e n

M a r k e t p l a c e

A r t i f a c t : S t a t u e o f D e m e t e r h o l d -

i n g a s h a f t o f w h e a t a n d p o p p y

c a p s u l e

K r i t i k o s a n d P a p a d a k i 1 9 6 7

( n o d a t e )


T h e S a n c t u a r y o f A r t e m u s O r t h i a

,

S p a r t a , G r e e c e

A r t i f a c t : S y m b o l i c p o p p y c a p -

s u l e b o n e p e n d a n t s & l e a d

g u r i n e

D a w k i n s 1 9 2 9 ; K r i t i k o s a n d P a -

p a d a k i 1 9 6 7

2 0 0 B

. C .

C a n n a b i s

C h i n a

L i t e r a t u r e : C h o u - L

i , m e n t i o n s u s e

o f C a n n a b i s a s a b e r . A

l s o

e v i d e n c e o f u s e o f C a n n a b i s

s e e d s a s a d o m

e s t i c a t e d g r a i n

c r o p

T o u w 1 9 8 1 ; L i 1 9 7 5


14/29



D a t e

S p e c i e s

L o c a t i o n

E v i d e n c e

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Fig. 7. Tubular vase probably used to inhale opi-um vapors. It was recovered from a subterraneancult chamber in Gazi, Crete (near Knossos), datedto 14501100 B.C. (Courtesy of Vassos Karageorghis,former director, National Museum of Antiquities, Nic-osia, Cyprus).

the poppy capsule, inside each of the hollowpinheads is a loose object that rattles when theobject is shaken. This was clearly done to mimicthe seeds in dried-out poppy capsules. The mod-el for these pieces of jewelry was not the unripe,

juice-laden bulb, but rather the desiccated cap-sule, which is often included in modern dried-ower arrangements (Merrillees 1999).

Certainly one of the prime examples of a con-nection of the opium poppy with ritual and/orspiritual use in the Eastern Mediterranean areais a large terracotta goddess gurine (ht. 80 cm)recovered from a subterranean cult chamberin Gazi, Crete (near Knossos). This PoppyGoddess statue has a half-length body with up-lifted hands and a trance-like facial expression(Blegen 1936; Marinatos 1937, see Cover Illus-tration). The artifact has been dated to Late Mi-noan III (14501100 B.C.). It has three move-

able, incised pins in the head which have beenidentied as representations of opium poppycapsules tapped for the alkaloid-rich sap; in ad-dition, it was found in association with para-phernalia (including a tubular vase, Fig. 7) thatindicate probable inhalation of opium vapors(Kritikos and Papadaki 1967; Merlin 1984). ThePoppy Goddess may also represent a priest-


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Fig. 8. Cylindrical, engraved, ivory pipe (13.5cm long) with distinct traces of burning, probablyshowing the stains from inhaled opium smoke, foundin ritualistic context (12th century B.C.) at Kition onCyprus. (Courtesy of Vassos Karageorghis, former Di-rector, National Museum of Antiquities, Nicosia, Cy-prus).

Fig. 9. Late Bronze Age ceramic juglets (Base-ring ware), most of them similar in shape and approximately1015 cm tall, have been found in tombs and settlements throughout much of the Middle East. Turned upsidedown, these thin-necked, pear-shaped, small vessels with their round bases resemble opium poppy pods (Courtesyof the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England).

ess hallucinating for the purpose of uttering

prophecies (Merrillees 1999).Similar, or associated, opium use parapher-nalia (e.g., a comparable tubular vase) were alsofound in a roughly contemporaneous, ritualisticcontext (12th century B.C.) at Kition on Cyprus.One of the most remarkable artifacts from thisLate Bronze Age site is a 13.5 cm long, cylin-drical (slightly tapered), carefully engraved, ivo-ry pipe with distinct traces of burning,probably showing the stains from inhaled opiumsmoke (Karageorghis 1976; Merlin 1984; seeFig. 8).

By the 12th century B .C. Cyprus already had

a long-standing familiarity with [opium] (Mer-rillees 1999). An extensive late Bronze Agetrade network for the production and export of opium latex, apparently centered in Cyprus, sup-plied a variety of ancient cultures in the easternMediterranean as a medicinal balm or a ritualsubstance. Late Bronze Age ceramic juglets(Base-ring ware, Fig. 9), most of them similarin shape and approximately 1015 cm tall, havebeen found in tombs and settlements throughoutmuch of the Middle East. Turned upside down,these thin-necked, pear-shaped, small vesselswith their round bases resemble opium poppiespods. Further indication of what was containedinside is indicated by the swollen bodies thathave white markings symbolizing knife inci-sions made on poppies capsules to allow opium

latex to ooze out for collection (see Fig. 10).Hundreds of the Late Bronze Age, Base-ring juglets have been found in sites in areas includ-ing Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Some of them,analyzed with the gas chromatography proce-dure in the 1980s and 1990s, have turned uptraces of opium (Bisset et al. 1996; Koschel1996; Merrillees 1989). Since many of theseCypriot juglets were recovered from LateBronze Age tombs in the Levant, we can sur-mise that these poppy capsule-shaped vesselswere believed to be magically invested withthe same therapeutic properties as its contents;


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Fig. 10. Incised, unripe opium poppy capsule withlatex (opium) oozing out.

Fig. 11. This terra cotta relief was recovered from Magna Graecia (ancient Greek colonies of South Italy).It depicts the Goddess of Spring (Persephon) emerging from the underworld with poppy capsules, sheaves of grain, and lilies in both hands (from Evans 1925:16, Fig. 18, Courtesy of the Journal of Hellenic Studies ).

the juglet itself may have symbolized the eternalsleep of the dead (Merrillees 1999).

In Classical Greece, the opium poppy was amultipurpose plant that had secular and sacreduses, including mundane medicinal and food ap-

plications, as well as muiltifarious associationswith divine aspects of the Greek culture (seeKritikos and Papadaki 1967; Merlin 1984; Mer-rillees 1999). Ancient Greeks associated fertilityand abundance with the opium poppy, and there-

fore with the goddess Demeter. This deity in par-ticular was connected with the opium poppy,and as such she was frequently depicted withstemmed grains of barley or wheat and opiumpoppy capsules in her hands or headdresses(e.g., Evans 1925; Kritikos and Papadaki 1967;Merrillees 1999, Fig. 11). In fact, P. somniferumwas a weedy or cultivated plant intimately in-volved in the cultural ecology of ancient Greek,and probably many other agricultural societiesof the ancient world (Merlin 1984). The divine,twin brothers, Hypnos and Thanatos, represent-ing sleep and death, were also often showedwith poppies in their crowns or their hands,manifesting the Greek awareness that sleep in-duced by opium brought rest and oblivion, butan overdose might be fatal.

The opium poppy, both in plant and in capsuleform, appears on various coins of the ancientGreek and Roman periods, at least in some cas-es, testament to the use of the poppy as a symbolof various divinities (e.g., see Kritikos and Pa-padaki 1967; Merlin 1984). The capsule of theopium poppy is also shown on Jewish coinagedated to the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. (Meshorer1982). Recent North African evidence for opiumpoppy in association with people comes from asite in Tunisia that yielded P. somniferum ma-terials from the Carthaginian, Iron Age, Punic,Roman, Medieval, and Byzantine periods (vanZeist et al. 2001).

Macrofossil and microfossil evidence fromancient Neolithic European sites north of theMediterranean prior to 2000 B.C. for the opiumpoppy, Papaver somniferum, is relatively abun-dant, especially in the Swiss Foreland and other


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Fig. 12. Cannabis plant (courtesy of Robert ConnellClarke).

Fig. 13. Hemp twine and rope made from Cannabis.

Fig. 14. Hemp seed from Cannabis (Courtesy of Richard Evans Schultes).

areas in Central Europe (Fig. 5 and 6). These

remains, excluding the recent discovery at LaMarmotta site (north of Rome) described above,(e.g., in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Aus-tria, Switzerland, Germany, northern Italy,France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UnitedKingdom) date back variously to about 3000 B.C.based on radiocarbon dating and stratigraphicanalysis (Merlin 1984; Coles and Coles 1989;for additional references see chronological table1).

Many recent references for the opium poppyevidence in ancient Europe have been providedby Kroll (2003). For example, see the following:Gyulai (1996) for late Bronze Age and Iron Age

sites (Urn eld period) of the Hallstatt and La-tene cultures in Hungary; Kroll (2001) for mid-dle Neolithic Funnel Beaker, TRB culture, atWangels, Eastern Holsatia, in Northwestern Ger-many; Castelletti and Rottoli (1999) for the Neo-lithic period in Italy; Heim and Hauzeur (2002)for the Neolithic period from the Rubane andBlicquy culture in Belgium; Heim and Jadin

(1998) for the Neolithic period from the Hes-bayan Linear Pottery culture in Belgium; andMonckton (2000) for Iron Age and Roman sitesin the Arrow Valley, Great Britain. Many Me-dieval archaeological sites have also been shownto contain remains of P. somniferum ; for ex-ample, Wiethold (1995) documented evidencefrom 14th century A.D. well/cesspits from Kiel,in Schleswig-Hostein, Germany.

C ANNABIS Much evidence for the early use of Cannabis

for ber, food, medicine, ceremony and recrea-tion can be gleaned from ancient written records(Fig. 12, 13, 14, and 15). However, the archae-


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Fig. 15. Female inorescence of Cannabis.

ological record for early use of Cannabis ismuch less extensive. Nevertheless, the macro-fossil, pollen, and indirect material evidencefrom prehistory are substantial.

The earliest human use of Cannabis appearsto have occurred in the steppe regions of Central

Asia or in China (e.g., see Merlin 1972; Lu andClarke 1995; Fleming and Clarke 1998). Hempwas certainly one of the earliest crop plants of China. Over hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, early inhabitants of Central and/or EasternAsia domesticated Cannabis varieties from wildplants into articially selected, cultivated crops.Chinese historical records and archeologicaldata suggest that the history of hemp cultivationand use in Eastern Asia is approximately 5,000to 6,000 years old. China therefore may havebeen the rst region to cultivate, and even usehemp. From the time of the earliest primitivesocieties (about 4,0005,000 years ago) to the

Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC to 220 AD) an-cient Chinese techniques of hemp sowing, cul-tivation, and processing developed rapidly andbecame fairly advanced (Lu and Clarke 1995).The earliest Neolithic farming communitiesalong the Wei and Huang He (Yellow) riverscultivated hemp as well as millet, wheat, beans,and rice. The oldest Chinese agricultural treatise

is the Xia Xiao Zheng written around the 16thcentury B .C. It refers to hemp as one of the maincrops grown in ancient China (Yu 1987). Re-mains of Cannabis bers, along with probableber impressions and hemp seeds have been re-covered from a variety of archeological sites, es-pecially near the Huang He and Yangtze rivers.

Cord impressed pottery with possible ber ev-idence of Cannibis use has been dated to ap-proximately 10,000 B.C. in early post-glacialshing sites on the south China coast, especiallyat the Yuan-Shun site in Taiwan (Chang 1968);and others dating from the fth millennium B .C.up to the second century A.D. have been foundin several regions on the mainland of China (Li1974a,b). Sherratt (1997) noted that the earlyuse of cord-impressed pottery in Chinathe so-

called Sheng-wen horizonwas associated withan early use of hemp and an appreciation (ex-plicit in the early historical records) of its nar-cotic properties.

More recent evidence of actual hemp bercomes from the Song Dynasty (c. 9601280A.D.) in the form of statuary fabricated withhemp cordage that was recovered from a sitenear Chin-Cheng in Shanxi Province, northeastChina (Kuo 1978), and from a Shan Kingdomsite (c. 15201030 B.C.) at Anyang in HenanProvince, eastern China (Chang 1968). Evenolder Cannabis ber material has been excavat-ed from a Zhou Dynasty tomb in Shanxi Prov-

ince; and complete hemp cloth specimens havebeen found in Han Dynasty tombs (ca. 100 B .C.100 A.D.) in Gansu Province, northern China(Kansu Museum 1972; for additional ancientChinese ber and hemp paper artifact evidence,see e.g., Cheng 1959, 1963, 1966; Li 1974a,b;and Yin 1978). Cannabis seeds dated to the 9thcentury A.D. have been recovered from Hokkai-do, Japan (Crawford and Takamiya 1990); Can-nabis along with signicant uses in ritual, cloth-ing production, and early papermaking were in-troduced to Japan from China via Korea approx-imately 1400 years ago (Hunter 1943).

The use of Cannabis to the west of China has

a very ancient history, perhaps older and some-what different than that in China. Sherratt (1987,1997) suggests that early inhabitants of the Eur-asian steppes, members of the Sredni Stog cul-ture that ourished about 45003500 B.C., usedCannabis to make a socially approved intoxi-cant, celebrating its signicance by imprint-ing it on their pottery. The crucial relationship


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Fig. 16. Tent frame and bronze vessels with stonesand Cannabis seeds found in a series of burial moundsat Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains of Siberia dating tothe fth century B.C. (Courtesy of Sir Harry Godwinand the Journal Antiquity ).

between horse and human rider originated in theSredni Stog culture which ourished in theUkraine 6,000 years ago (Anthony et al. 1991).The origin of horse riding was the rst signi-cant innovation in human land transport predat-ing the invention of the wheel, and hemp bersmay have played an important role in this crucialinvention of horse riding.

One very notable historic reference supportsthe rst ethnographic evidence of an earlysmoking culture in temperate Eurasia (Sher-ratt 1995). This indication concerning Cannabiscomes from Herodotus (c. 446 B.C.), in whichhe describes the post-funeral purication ritualof Scythians on the Pontic steppes: On aframework of three sticks meeting at the top,they stretch pieces of woolen cloth, taking care

to get the joins as perfect as they can, and insidethis little tent they put a dish with red-hot stoneson it. Then they take some hemp seed, creep intothe tent, and throw the seeds on the hot stones.At once it began to smoke, giving off vapor un-surpassed by any vapor-bath one could nd inGreece. The Scythians enjoy it so much thatthey would howl with pleasure (Herodotus, IV,75).

The accuracy of this ancient account was es-tablished by archaeological excavations in 1947of a series of burial mounds at Pazyryk in theAltai Mountains of Siberia dating to the fthcentury B .C. In each burial a 1.2 m-high wooden

frame tent was found; and each tent enclosed abronze vessel with stones and hemp seeds, pre-sumably left smoking in the grave (Fig. 16). Aleather pouch with hemp seeds provided sup-plies, and scattered hemp, coriander and melilotseeds were also recovered (Sherratt 1995; cf.Rudenko 1970). New evidence for Cannabis useby the Scythian tribes during the early Iron Agehas been uncovered in the Ukraine (Pashkevich1999).

From two earlier cultures, one in Romaniafrom a Kurgan Pit-grave at Gurbanesti near Bu-charest dated to the later third millennium BC ,and the other in a northern Caucasian Early

Bronze Age site (more or less comparable thirdmillennium age) from which similar pipe-cupvessels (polypod, i.e., footed bowls) containinghemp seeds were recovered (Ecsedy 1979).Based on the Herodotus quote and these seeddiscoveries in widely separated locations, Sher-ratt (1991) argues that the practice of burningcannabis as a narcotic is a tradition which goes

back in this area some ve or six thousand yearsand was the focus of the social and religiousrituals of the pastoral peoples of central Eurasiain prehistoric and early historic times.

According to Sherratt (1987) The rst cer-tain identication of hemp [ber, or any form]in Europe is in the Hallstatt-period Furstengrab[grave] of Hochdorf near Stuttgart, dated to c.500 BC (cf. Korber-Grohne 1985; also see Mer-

lin 1972 for an older, general review). Kroll(2003) asserts that the only denite Neolithic re-mains of Cannabis are from Russia, Ukraineor westernmost China. He refers to Larina(1999) for evidence of Cannabis from the Neo-lithic Linear Pottery Culture in the Russian areaof the interuve between the Prut and Dniesterrivers, Pashkevich (1997) for early farmers uti-lizing hemp in the Ukraine (Neolithic andBronze Age), and Rosch (1998, 1999) for ref-erence to Neolithic use of hemp ( Hanf ) as a berplant ( Gespinstpanzen ). According to Kroll(2003), Cannabis was certainly part of theBronze Age southeastern European steppe en-

vironment even in late Neolithic settlements.However, he points out that similar to the nettle,Urtica dioica, feral forms of Cannabis may beruderals, like nowadays in [all of] southeast Eu-rope. The question is: feral forms from domesticones? Or domestic forms from wild ones? Thereis no answer, one may use feral forms as wellas domestic or true wild ones.


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Many other ancient sites, with evidence of Cannabis in Europe have been documented. Forexample, see the following: Gyulai (1996) forevidence from Bronze Age and Iron Age (Urneld period) Hallstatt and Latene cultures inHungary; Robinson and Karg (2000) for Bronzeor Iron Age remains at Vallensbk in Denmark;Konig (2001) for Roman Iron Age evidencefrom Trier in Germany; Opravil (2000) for earlyMiddle Age evidence from Mikulcice in theCzech Republic; and Lempiainen (1999) for areview of the history of hemp ( Cannabis sativaL.) in Finland including archaeobotanical evi-dence from 8001600 A.D.

Archaeological evidence of Cannabis fromNear Eastern sites is scarce, but an intriguingpiece of hemp fabric was recovered from a Phyr-

gian Kingdom grave mound site at Gordion,near Ankara in Turkey which has been dated tothe late 8th century B.C. (Bellinger 1962; God-win 1967).

Remarkable evidence for Cannabis use in theNear East was found more recently in centralIsrael.

psychoactive plant use in the old world.pdf

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