Ruth Schuster Dec 8, 2024 4:04 pm IST
Just how entrenched was drug use in ancient society? Extremely, it seems. The deeper one dives into the archaeological and zoological fields of research, the more one finds appreciation of alternative reality. The "war on drugs" seems to be the aberration.
A new paper published last week in the journal Praehistorische Zeitschrift by archaeologist Prof. Andrzej Kokowski and biologists from Maria Curie-SkĆodowska University in Lublin, Poland, suggests that though the Romans thought advanced drug use was their personal prerogative and was too good for the likes of the filthy barbarians on their borders â apparently, the "barbarians" didn't agree. This is based on the find of artifacts resembling cocaine spoons that they tied to their belts with a thong or cord. Or wore as pendants.
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The researchers surmise that these were drug delivery spoons, though some had small disks instead of concave bowls at their end. The thong could have been long enough for the implement to reach their noses or mouths.
What did they use them for? At this stage the team doesn't know, but points out that the Germanic tribes warring with Rome could have achieved ecstatic belligerence and relief from stress and fear from a wide range of plants available to them. They included poppy, cannabinoids, henbane, belladonna and various fungi.
Come the Bronze Age, the Sumerians of southern Mesopotamia grew poppy for culinary and medicinal purposes 5,000 years ago. The Egyptians cottoned on to its narcotic aspects, discovering its powder could be sniffed, the team writes. Separate work has shown that the ancient Egyptians and Canaanites lived and worked cheek by jowl and the Canaanites also partook of opium (and alcohol).
Cannabinoids pop up in early Jewish contexts, with the ancient Israelites offering postulation that they were used in temples.
As for the harbinger of the opioid epidemic, the ancient Greeks are credited with developing the technique of extracting the alkaloid-rich poppy sap to make opium, the team says. Apparently their invention was quite the ancient startup.
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