Drug Use Determined in 3,000-Year-Old Hair
An analysis of strands of human hair from a burial site in Menorca, Spain, indicates that ancient human civilizations used hallucinogenic drugs derived from plants.
In the photo, you see the hair of a person identified as having used hallucinogenic drugs in the Bronze Age, about 3,000 years ago, on a Mediterranean island.
Previous evidence of prehistoric drug use in Europe has been based on indirect evidence such as the detection of opium alkaloids in Bronze Age containers, the finding of remains of drug plants in ritualistic contexts, and the appearance of drug plants in artistic depictions.
About 210 people were buried in a cave in Spain that was originally inhabited about 3,600 years ago and was used as a burial site until about 2,800 years ago. However, certain individuals' hair was dyed red, placed in wooden and horn vessels decorated with concentric circles, and taken to a separate, closed room further back in the cave. These strands of hair date back about 3,000 years.