Archaeologists excavating an ancient royal tomb in southern Siberia say they have uncovered evidence that cannabis may have been used for its psychoactive effects nearly 2,800 years ago.
The discovery was made at the Tunnug 1 archaeological site in the Uyuk Valley, an area sometimes known as Siberia’s Valley of the Kings, where researchers found more than 1,000 cannabis seeds alongside human remains in a monumental burial mound.
Recently published in the journal Science, the findings push back the potential timeline for psychoactive cannabis use by around 300 years.
The burial mound, which measures approximately 140 metres in diameter, is associated with the Scythians, ancient nomadic peoples who migrated across Central Asia and parts of southern Russia and Ukraine.
Dr Gino Caspari, an archaeologist at the University of Bern who led the excavation, said the team initially spotted tiny black marks while investigating burials in the centre of the tomb.
“So since 2017, we have been excavating this monumental royal tomb in southern Siberia. It’s a very large burial mound, 140 metres in diameter. And now in the centre of this tomb, we’ve discovered a bunch of burials. And while excavating these, we found these tiny black spots there. And you have to imagine an excavation trench with lots of organic materials, sort of greyish-brown colours. It’s not so easy to spot them, but once we had them, we picked them out and they turned out to be seeds,” he said.
The researchers identified the seeds as cannabis through their distinctive surface patterns. They also discovered preserved human hair, which allowed the team to investigate whether the plant had been consumed.
“When we discovered preserved human hair only a few hours later, we knew exactly what we had to do. It’s only so often as an archaeologist that you do get to drug test a person that’s been dead for almost 3,000 years,” Caspari said.
Ancient accounts of cannabis use
The discovery offers potential archaeological evidence supporting historical accounts of cannabis use among the Scythians. The often doubted Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC, described Scythians gathering inside tents, inhaling cannabis smoke and howling with laughter.
In Book IV, section 75 of The Histories, he recounts how they threw hemp seeds onto red-hot stones: “The Scythians then take the seed of this hemp and, creeping under the mats, throw it on the red-hot stones, where it smoulders and sends forth such fumes that no Greek vapour-bath could surpass it. The Scythians howl in their joy at the vapour-bath. This serves them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.”
Caspari said the discovery is consistent with these accounts, although the researchers cannot establish whether the cannabis found in the tomb was smoked or ingested.
Researchers also believe the seeds were deliberately placed in the tomb rather than appearing there by chance, suggesting cannabis may have held a particular significance in Scythian burial practices.
Caspari said the discovery points towards a possible ritual purpose. “So, what we cannot probably assume is a sort of recreational use like after work, like I smoke a joint type of stuff. Clearly in a burial context, there’s some aspect of ritual behind this,” he said.
He also suggested cannabis could potentially have been used to sedate people before human sacrificial ceremonies.
“There might be some sinister aspects as well because we have a lot of horse sacrifices and also potentially human sacrifices. And this might be beneficial if the humans that you’re about to sacrifice are not… are somewhat sedated at least. That is speculation and an interpretation based on the context. That might be an option here, but we can’t prove that.”
Potential shortcomings of the study
But not everyone is convinced that the discovery proves cannabis was being used as a drug. Some independent experts have questioned the research.
The hair analysis “is scientifically weak” and there’s not enough evidence to tell whether cannabis was used, wrote Volker Auwaerter, head of the forensic toxicology section at the University Medical Center in Freiburg, Germany, in an email.
“For a central part of the study, the article falls far short of what would have been possible,” Auwaerter said. “This matters because the hair data carry the abstract’s main claims (cannabis consumption and use for its psychoactive properties).”
The findings therefore offer a possible new insight into the history of cannabis, but whether the ancient Scythians were using it to get high remains an open question.