Oldest cannabis use found in a Siberian burial mound in Tuva

At the Tunnug 1 burial mound in the Republic of Tuva (Russia), scientists have found the oldest direct evidence of cannabis being used as a psychoactive substance: traces of cannabinol in the hair of a person buried around 2,800 years ago. This is reported in a new study published in the journal Science.

The previous record belonged to a cemetery in China dated to roughly 500 BC. An international team of archaeologists and scientists, including researchers from the University of Bern and the Max Planck Institute, has pushed that date back by a full three centuries.

What was found in the Scythian tomb

The find comes from the Arzhan area, a region of early burial mounds in Tuva. The vast plateau with the giant Tunnug 1 mound is considered a site of the early Scythian period. The tomb of a nomadic Scythian elite, dating to the 8th century BC (roughly 800–760 BC), contained more than 1,000 cannabis seeds.

The seeds alone would have proved nothing: at the time, cannabis was also grown for fiber and oil. The turning point was the analysis of human hair braided into plaits, which has survived in unusually good condition. Using mass spectrometry, researchers found traces of cannabinol (CBN) in the hair, a breakdown product of THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis. Exactly how the substance was consumed (smoked, eaten or inhaled as vapor) and in what amount remains unknown. But the researchers say the link to rituals is beyond doubt.

The dark side of the discovery

The mound was not simply a ruler's grave. It also contained the remains of dozens of sacrificed horses and human bones. Everything suggests this was part of a funeral rite, and that the braid belonged to one of the human sacrifices. The scientists are working with the hypothesis that cannabis may have been given to victims or participants in the ritual to dull their fear of death.

A timeline of “drug records”

The new find adds to the picture of how humanity has experimented with natural substances for millennia. The proven sequence currently looks like this:

1. Betel (areca nut) — 25,000–16,000 years ago, Sulawesi island, Indonesia. This is the oldest indirect evidence of drug use in human history: traces on the tooth enamel of two hunter-gatherers.

2. Poppy and opium — around 6000–5700 BC, southern Spain and Switzerland. Charred capsules and thousands of seeds of the opium poppy were found in Neolithic caves. It was grown not only as food but also used for pain relief and, probably, in rituals.

3. Cannabis (psychoactive use) — around 800–760 BC, Siberia, Tunnug 1 burial mound.

4. The alkaloids scopolamine and atropine — around 1000 BC, Es Carritx cave on Menorca (Spain). Hair analysis revealed powerful plant alkaloids from black henbane. The cave's inhabitants used these hallucinogens in shamanic rituals to “make contact with the other world.”

The authors note that people were drawn to mind-altering substances even before the invention of writing, the building of cities and the rise of agriculture.

Around Prague, based on reporting by osel.cz