Hallucinogens found in Bronze Age Menorca hair

[guy]

 

Hair found at a Bronze Age burial site in Menorca (Balearic Islands) has been analyzed, and evidence of psychoactive compounds has been found.

 

Quote

 

A new study published in the journal scientific reports, has found direct evidence of drug use in Bronze Age Menorca, based on an analysis conducted on human hair found in the cult cave of Es Càrritx, in Menorca (Balearic Islands).

A chemical analysis performed on the hair using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS), has detected traces of alkaloids ephedrine, atropine and scopolamine, confirming the use of different alkaloid-bearing plants by the inhabitants of Bronze Age Menorca around 3,000-years-ago.

According to the study, the flora native to Menorca includes the psychoactive species: Datura stramonium, Hyoscyamus albus and Mandragora automnalis, which contain the tropane derivatives atropine and scopolamine. Also on the island is Ephedra fragilis, which contains the phenylethylamine derivative ephedrine, and Papaver somniferum, which contains a variety of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, morphine and papaverine.

 

 

 

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/04/direct-evidence-of-ancient-bronze-age-drug-use-found-in-menorca/146802

 

https://nypost.com/2023/04/07/hallucinogenic-drugs-found-in-3000-year-old-human-shaman-hair/

 

The scientific source article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-31064-2

Edited September 11 by guy

[caldrail]

Not really suprised. Human beings have always demonstrated a capacity for getting drunk or out of their heads on strange substances. The Egyptians are known to have. I understand there's been some discoveries about this sort of thing in caves used by our primeval ancestors.