Ancient human civilizations in Spain were using hallucinogenic drugs derived from plants and bushes around 3,000 years ago, according to new research. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, revealed that hair samples from a burial site in Menorca contained evidence of substances that would have induced delirium and hallucinations.
This is believed to be the oldest direct evidence of people taking hallucinogenic drugs in Europe. The Es Càrritx cave in Menorca, where the hair samples were collected, is home to over 200 human graves and is thought to have been a ritual and funerary site for around 600 years until 800 BCE.
The substances found in the hair samples may have been used as part of rituals held at the cave, which may have involved shamans capable of controlling the side-effects of the plant drugs, the researchers said. Analysis of the locks, which had been dyed red during the ancient rituals and could have come from more than one person, detected three psychoactive substances.
Along with atropine and scopolamine, which induce hallucinations, scientists found ephedrine, which boosts energy and alertness. The researchers also discovered containers with spiral motifs carved on the lids in the cave, which some scholars have considered to represent a person’s “altered states of consciousness” while under the influence of hallucinogens.
Previous evidence of prehistoric drug use in Europe had been based on indirect evidence such as the appearance of drug plants in artistic depictions. However, this new research provides direct evidence of the use of hallucinogenic drugs by ancient human civilizations in Europe.
The study’s lead author, Dr Antonio González, a researcher at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, said the findings provide “the oldest documented proof of the use of hallucinogenic drugs in Europe.” He added that the results “contribute to a better understanding of the societies that inhabited the Balearic Islands during the Bronze Age and help us to understand their relationship with the sacred, death, and the possibilities of communicating with supernatural forces.”
