ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE TRADITION OF PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD

M. D. MERLIN UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'IATMAÅ NOA,HONOLULU, HI 96822

We live in an age when a divine vision is terials have been predominantly dictated by spir- dismissed as an hallucination, and desire to ex- itual and/or medicinal requirements. On the oth- perience a direct communication with god is of- er hand, contemporary, modern use in various ten interpreted as a sign of mental illness. Nev- societies, especially in those areas affected by ertheless, some scholars and scientists assert that Western Civilization, is often inspired by per- such visions and communications are fundamen- sonal ``recreational'' desires to experience eu- tally derived from an ancient and ongoing cul- phoria, and frequently is impelled by peer group tural tradition. The hypothesis presented here pressure. suggests that have a very ancient tra- An early relationship between humans and dition involving the use of mind-altering expe- psychoactive plants, often within a highly ritu- riences to produce profound, more or less spir- alized, ceremonial context has been suggested itual and cultural understanding. by a number of authors (Allegro 1970; Emboden A cross-cultural survey of ``relevant ethno- 1979; Furst 1972; Goodman et al. 1995; La graphic literature'' involving 488 societies in the Barre 1970, 1972, 1980; Schultes et al. 2002; 1970s indicated that 90% (437) of these groups Sherratt 1991, 1995b; Wasson 1968; Wilbert ``institutionalized, culturally patterned forms an 1972; Wohlberg 1990). A number of these au- altered state of consciousness.'' The highest thors believe this kind of use of consciousness- rates (97%) were among the societies of ``ab- altering plants provided the inspiration for initial original North America'' and the lowest (80%) religious experiences, even perhaps three in the ``Circum-Mediterranean region,'' which of the world's largest religions, Hinduism (Was- includes ``North Africa, the Near East, and son 1968), Judaism (Dure 2001; Merkur 2000), southern and western Europe as well as overseas and Christianity (Allegro 1970; Ruck et al. Europeans'' (Bourguignon 1973). A large per- 2001). Although this hypothesis and some of the centage of these altered states are produced speci®c case studies (e.g., Allegro 1970) have through consumption of psychoactive drug plant been widely dismissed as erroneous, others con- substances, supporting the idea that ``. . . the tinue to call attention to the importance of psy- ubiquity of mind-altering agents in traditional choactive drug plant use by humans and the or- societies cannot be doubtedÐjust as the moods igin of spiritual concepts (e.g., Smith 2000, also of industrial societies are set by a balance of see Rudgley 1994, 1998, and Roberts 2001). For caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, among many oth- example, according to some classical scholars, ers'' (Sherratt 1995a; Fig. 1). Christianity evolved within the milieu of Judaic Traditionally, the use of the great majority of and Hellenistic healing cults, magic, and the mind-altering drug plants has been strongly as- Mystery initiations: ``All four of these inevitably sociated with ritual and/or religious activity; in- imply a sacred ethnopharmacology, with tradi- deed, ritualized consumption in various forms, tions going back to earlier ages of the ancient may be unequivocally religious, ``as in the world'' (see Ruck et al. 2001). Christian Eucharist or the complex wine-offer- This relationship with mind-altering organ- ings to the ancestors in the elaborate bronze ves- isms is very old. It may have even originated sels of Shang and Zhou dynast '' (Sherratt before the evolution of our own genus, but more 1995b). Customary, or pre-industrial, motiva- probably within the temporal span of our own tions for ingestion of psychoactive organic ma- species well back into the Pleistocene.

Economic Botany 57(3) pp. 295±323. 2003 ᭧ 2003 by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A. 296 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57

pre-industrial contexts, have been ``culturally programmed'' to ®nd plants (or fungi) that allow them to communicate with the ancestors (or their spirit world). He suggested that this tradition goes back into the Paleolithic Era, long before the invention of agriculture when people were all hunters and gatherers. According to his the- sis, as bands of humans spread out into new re- gions, including new ecological situations, they carried with them a culturally inspired motiva- tion to ®nd and use species of plants or fungi that would allow them to transcend their ``nor- mal'' consciousness and enable them to com- municate with their ancestors or godsÐin es- sence, their spirit world. The archaeological and paleobotanical records offer evidence for these assertions, albeit some- what fragmentary now. However, with the pow- erful tools of modern science and human imag- ination, our understanding of our deep-rooted desire to experience ecstasy in the original sense of the word (to break the mind free from the body and communicate with the ``gods'' or the ancestors) will become clear with time. This re- view, utilizing archaeology and paleobotany, with its varying time depths in different regions, documents the antiquity of a very widespread Fig. 1. Semi-wild opium poppy, Papaver somnifer- tradition of human association with psychoac- um. tive species of plants and fungi in the Old World, particularly Eurasia. In a 1970 journal article in Economic Botany In modern societies, psychoactive materials (24: 73±80), the ethnobotanist Richard Evans are used in a variety of ways. These include re- Schultes asked the anthropologist Weston La ligious, medical, and secular applications, which Barre a question concerning the known distri- in ancient times may or may not have been bution of traditional psychoactive drug plant use viewed as separate. For example, in the case of in the Old and New Worlds. Schultes wanted to Neolithic Europe, Sherratt (1991) argued that know why there are so few known psychoactive psychoactive (``narcotic'') substances were con- drug plants associated with traditional cultural sumed in a ritualistic context: ``Such `religious' use in the Old World. He pointed out that al- uses would no doubt have included `medicinal' though there is much more ecological diversity uses as well, since it would be arti®cial to sep- and a much longer history of human occupation arate physical healing from ritual observance.'' in the Old World, the New World has many However, Sherratt (1995b) also suggested ``that more of these known culturally-associated evidence for the employment of substances such ``plants of the gods.'' as opium or cannabis at various times in the past La Barre argued that there must have been should not immediately be interpreted as an in- numerous other species that were used in the dication either of profound ritual signi®cance or Old World for such purposes, but the rise of civ- of widespread employment for largely hedonis- ilization, and in particular monotheism eliminat- tic purposes: they may simply belong to the ma- ed most of these traditions in the Old World (and terial medica.'' Under most conditions, in non- in those areas of the New World, where Euro- industrial societies, psychoactive substances pean religious in¯uence has affected the pre- were often, if not always used in ritualistic, re- contact uses of such species). More fundamen- ligious contexts. tally, La Barre argued that humans, at least in Mind-altering plant species, including the 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 297 ones discussed below, can produce a variable al- tered state of consciousness depending upon the quality and quantity of the psychoactive chem- icals ingested, as well as the psychological set of the user and the social-environmental setting in which the substance is consumed (Julien 2001).

METHODOLOGY Data used to support the hypothetical, wide- spread, ancient use of psychoactive drug species has been extracted from the literature of various disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology, ethnobotany, and palynology. Dating of evi- dence varies in technique and relative reliability. Most of the evidence has been dated using the radiocarbon method; some chronological docu- mentation has relied on reference to the written record. Fig. 2. Ancient Greek depiction of opium poppy capsule or pomegranate fruit? (Courtesy of Mrs. Suz- The archaeological evidence for psychoactive anne Labiner, Beverly Hills, California). drug plant research has traditionally come in two forms, artifactual and paleoethnobotanical. The advantages and disadvantages of both forms of Artifact interpretation may vary between dif- evidence must be considered. All artifactual ev- ferent schools of archaeological theory, or sim- idence is subject to some type of interpretation ply may differ in the identi®cation of what spe- and reconstruction. Disagreement may arise con- cies is represented. For example, an evolution- cerning the speci®c identi®cation of the organ- ary theorist may be hard pressed to refer to a ism that the artifact is supposed to represent, as clay ®gurine as a religious object because it ap- well as the interpretation of its artistic, religious, pears to have enormous breasts and hips; or ar- medicinal or other practical use or inspiration. tifacts depicting globular ``fruit'' may seem to The paleoethnobotanical record is much less some to be representations of opium poppy (Pa- subjective. However dif®culties in assigning paver somniferum L.) capsules, but to others specimens to speci®c taxa may occur (Pearsall they appear be depictions of pomegranate (Pun- 1989), and con®rmation of its putative use by ica granatum L.) fruits (see Fig. 2, also see Mer- humans is also sometimes dif®cult or even con- lin 1984). The most basic biological interpreta- tentious. The most reliable information should tions of an artifact may be the least controversial be a combination of the two types of archaeo- and most reliable. For example, a painting in an logical evidence. Although scholars ideally Egyptian tomb may depict a speci®c plant spe- should identify the species ``symbolic meanings cies, such as the Egyptian lotus or blue water from depictions on artifacts and their [macro- lily (Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f. var. caerulea fossil or microfossil] presence in archaeological (Sav.) Verdc.±N. caerulea Savigny), which can sediments'' (Popper and Hastorf 1988:2), the be more clearly identi®ed and referenced. How- discovery of this kind of corroborative evidence ever, any interpretation beyond identi®cation has been rare. without supplemental evidence such as referenc- Much of the evidence from Europe is paleo- es from papyri may be premature or inaccurate. botanical, while in other areas such as the Near Documentary evidence is usually not available. East the evidence is usually limited to artifacts Therefore, a prudent interpretation of archaeo- and their interpretation. This re¯ects regional logical remains must take into account the con- techniques, biases, and the amount of research text and associations of the artifact within the undertaken by archaeologists working in these site. areas. A scarcity or lack of evidence from an Paleoethnobotany, as a sub®eld of ethnobot- area should not be assumed to represent the ac- any, is ``concerned with elucidating human-plant tual prehistoric preference or use of a plant. relations in the past through study of archaeo- 298 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57

Fig. 3. Poppy capsules, circa 4,200 years old, re- covered from small grass woven baskets found in a of Cueva de los MurcieÂlagos near AlbunÄol Fig. 4. Ancient evidence for Papaver somniferum in the southern Spanish province of Granada (from in the Western Mediterranean, comes in the form of Neuwiler 1935). capsules recovered from small grass woven baskets found in a burial cave (Cueva de los MurcieÂlagos) near AlbunÄol in the southern Spanish province of Granada. logical plant remains'' (Pearsall 1989). These re- mains consist of three types: macrofossil re- possible the archaeological ®nds and references mains, pollen grains, and phytoliths. Macrofossil will be analyzed for accuracy and reliability in remains may be desiccated, burned, or water- the three areas of archaeological interest out- logged wood, leaves, fruits or seeds that may be lined above: artifact interpretation, paleoethno- recovered in situ by screening techniques or ¯o- botanical analysis and dating techniques. tation. Some paleoethnobotanical ®nds recov- ered from ancient sites in the early stages of ar- RESULTS chaeological research were not carefully extract- Selected evidence is presented below for a ed from non-disturbed contexts, for example, limited number of psychoactive species or gen- opium poppy capsules from southern , era in the Old World, especially for those that (Gongora 1868; Fig. 3 and 4) and opium poppy have a relatively more extensive, ancient, ar- seeds from various central European sites (Mer- chaeological record of association with humans. lin 1984; Fig. 5 and 6). Although these fossils Within the discussion of each taxa, references cannot be dated or placed in the most accurate will be examined, where appropriate and feasi- contexts as possible, they are some the most di- ble, in an order based on antiquity of the evi- rect ancient evidence of the presence and prob- dence, and according to their cultural dispersal able use of this species in the region. Pollen consists of three layers: living cell, in- tine, and exine, and of these three layers only exine remains in fossilized pollen. Identi®cation of fossil pollen is based upon identi®cation of the structure, form and apertures of the exine. Phytoliths are opal silica bodies found in plants. They may provide important information from archaeological sites that are not conducive to the preservation of macrofossil remains or pollen. The ability to identify any paleoethnobotanical remains relies on comparative reference collec- tions. Some pollen is especially dif®cult to iden- tify, and may only be recognized as belonging to a particular family or genus rather than the Fig. 5. The small vial holds 4,500 year old, Neo- exact species. The size and extent of paleoeth- lithic opium poppy seeds recovered from a Cortaillod settlement at Seeufersidlung Twann on the shores of nobotanical collections varies between different Lake Bieler, in 1975 (courtesy of Fritz H. regions and areas, often based on the history and Schweingruber, Swiss Federal Institute of Forestry Re- extent of archaeological research. When it is search). 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 299

Fig. 6. Ancient fossil evidence for Papaver somniferum in the Swiss Foreland and surrounding areas. 300 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57 or the geographical distribution of their known senting a number of plant species. This evidence ancient use. has been used to support the hypothesis that the The ancient archaeological record is reviewed hominid body was deliberately, and perhaps rit- in detail for the following taxa: Ephedra L., Per- ualistically buried on a bed of woody branches ganum harmala L., Papaver somniferum L., and ¯owers sometime between May and July, Cannabis L., Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f. var. when the ¯owers of many of the species were caerulea (Sav.) Verdc., and Mandragora of®ci- in bloom. narum L. As noted above, some species that Palynological analysis identi®ed a number of have been used for mind-altering purposes have species including Achillea-type, Centaurea sol- also been employed for a variety of other rea- stitialis, Senecio-type, Muscari-type, Althea- sons. These multi-purpose plants include, for ex- type and Ephedra altissima (Leroi-Gourhan ample, Cannabis (true hemp) which has been 1975); and a subsequent phytopharmacological grown for ®ber production, seed food for hu- evaluation of the therapeutic potential of these mans and animals, as an oil source, and, of plants revealed their objective healing activity course, for its psychoactive resin. Therefore the (Lietava 1992). This medical utility could have need to verify the archaeological context which encouraged the intentional selection of these supports the argument that the species was pre- plant species by the Middle Paleolithic Shanidar sent and used as a mind-altering substance is . Ephedra altissima yields ephed- desirable, if not crucial. This also applies to Pa- rine, an alkaloid that produces sympatomimetic paver somniferum (the opium poppy), whose and amphetamine-like effects (Teuscher 1979), seeds could come from ®eld ``weeds'' or have as well as euphoria (Wenke 1986:579). There- been used as a food or oil plant, rather than as fore it may have served as an entheogen for rit- source of opiates. Furthermore, in the case of ualistic, spiritual purposes, and/or a medicinal. Ephedra, plants in this genus could have been However, not everyone has agreed with the burned for fuel. Nevertheless, there is strong hypothesis that the placement of the ¯owering reason to believe that all of the species featured plant offerings at the burial site was a conscious in this survey were used, at least in part, for choice of the Neanderthals (e.g., see Sommer ritualistic, spiritual purposes re¯ecting the an- 1999). The original report described the exis- cient relationships of humans and psychoactive tence of animal holes around the burial along plants for religious inspiration. with the fossil remains of the ``'' (Meriones persicus Blanford). This rodent spe- EPHEDRA cies lives in large colonies and is known to store As a member of the Gymnosperm Division large amount of seeds and ¯owers in its bur- Gnetophyta, an enigmatic group of seed plants, rows. Indeed excavators identi®ed numerous jird the genus Ephedra includes 45 to 50 species. burrows near the burial, and 70% of all the ro- These perennial, dioecious, small shrubs (and dent bone recovered from Shanidar Cave was one small, tree-like form) are a small, extraor- from this jird species. Analysis of jird burrows dinary group of plants adapted to arid condi- has also revealed the remains of many of the tions. They have photosynthetic stems with no same ¯owers that were found around Shanidar leaves, and are found in cool, dry areas of Asia, IV. Thus the presence of ¯ower pollen around Europe, Africa, North America and South Amer- the skeleton may not have been the result of rit- ica. ualistic activity, but simply the establishment of The oldest date for a potentially psychoactive jird burrows following the burial (Sommer plant in a cultural context is from the Neander- 1999). thal burial site at Shanidar Cave in northern Ephedra has sometimes been referred to as where pollen of an Ephedra species (E. altissima source of the active ingredient for the ancient Willk., cf. Leroi-Gourhan 1975; Solecki 1971) soma (or haoma) beverage that was used for rit- was dated to more than 50,000 B.C. (Solecki ualistic and religious purposes over a wide re- 1975). The Shanidar limestone cave, now locat- gion that included areas now referred to as ed over 700 meters above sea level yielded soil and , and perhaps a much broader range samples extracted from around the male burial (e.g., see Rudgley 1998). Soma has been closely known as Shanidar IV. Two of the samples con- identi®ed with the Indo-Iranians, people whose tained a large quantity of pollen grains repre- ancient home land was located somewhere in 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 301

Central Asia. According to most archaeological simply to ward off evil spirits or as a ``good luck interpretations, this early culture divided into charm.'' two separate groups approximately 4,000 years More recently, however, Ephedra has been re- ago. One group became the ancient Iranian peo- asserted as the source of the soma drug based ples, the other, the Indo-Aryans, migrated south on archaeological evidence recovered from Rus- into what is now Afganistan and the Indus Val- sian excavations at Gonur depe, the 4,000 year- ley. These two groups of people preserved ex- old ``Zoroastrian capital'' in the Kara Kum de- tensive, religious oral traditions that were sub- sert of , known in ancient times as sequently rendered in written form as the Rig Margiana. The Gonur depe complex is part of Veda of the Indians and the Avesta of the Ira- the previously unknown Bronze Age civilization nians. Central rituals in both of these ancient in Bactria (North ) and Margiana cultural traditions involved consumption of an (Turkmenistan). Now referred to as the Bactria- entheogenic (spiritually stimulating) plant or Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), it fungus. This psychoactive species (or mixture of had two distinct cultural periods, the ®rst be- species) was called soma by the Indians and tween 1900 and 1700 B.C. and the second be- haoma by the Iranians. Similar rituals are per- tween 1700 and 1500 B.C. (Parpola 1994). At formed by some of the descendants of these peo- Gonur depe, archaeologists found monumental ples who now use substitutes for soma that are sites dated to the ®rst half of the second millen- not mind-altering; however, the identity of the nium B.C. (Sarianidi 1994). original, sacred, mind-altering species has re- The Gonur South area of this site comprises mained a mystery for many centuries. A large a forti®ed compound of buildings. A large ``sa- number of species were put forward as putative cred ®re temple'' shrine situated within this candidates for soma during 19th and 20th cen- compound has two parts; one appears to have turies (e.g., see Merlin 1972). been used for public worship, but the other was After many decades of debate about the iden- a hidden ``inner sanctum of the priesthood'' tity of the psychoactive substance in the soma/ which consists of private rooms (cf. Rudgley haoma drink, R. Gordon Wasson's (1968) pub- 1998). Analysis of the contents in ceramic bowls lication of Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immor- found in at least one of these private rooms by tality, argued very persuasively that the ¯y-aga- Professor Meier-Melikyan (1990) revealed the ric mushroom, Amanita muscaria (Fr. Ex L.) traces of both Cannabis and Ephedra. It has QueÂl. is the species in question. Wasson's ar- been suggested that both of these psychoactive gument was based mainly on ancient Indian substances had been used in conjunction in the sources. A majority of scholars accepted his the- making of psychoactive drinks. Ten ceramic pot- sis. However, a couple of decades later, Flattery stands found in a room adjoining the ``inner and Schwartz (1989) argued effectively for Syr- sanctum'' seem to have been used in combina- ian rue (Perganum harmala, Zygophyllaceae), tion with strainers designed to separate the which was originally identi®ed as the source of ``juices from the twigs, stems and leaves of the soma by Sir William Jones in 1794. Flattery and plants'' (Rudgley 1998; cf. Sarianidi 1994). A Schwartz relied primarily upon Iranian evidence basin in another room at the other end of the to support their assertion that soma should be shrine contained a large quantity of Cannabis, identi®ed with P. harmala since this species is along with pottery stands and strainers that also still well-known for its psychoactive effects in appear to have used to make mind-altering, rit- the home land region of the Indo-Iranians. ualistic beverages. Evidence that human used P. harmala in the A pottery strainer, comparable to those found ®fth millennium B.C. has been recovered from at shrine at Gonur South, that was also used ap- the Caucasus region (Lisitsyna and Prishcepen- parently to concoct psychoactive beverages, was ko 1977); and according to Miller (2003), P. recovered from the shrine at the site of Togoluk harmala ``becomes more common in the third 1 (mid-second millennium B.C.), although re- millennium [B.C.] archaeobotanical samples in mains of mind-altering plants have not been dis- the Near East, and is therefore likely to be as- covered in this site. In addition, vessels found in sociated with overgrazing.'' However, it may shrine at a third settlement, Togoluk 21 (late sec- have been used for religious purposes, or, as it ond millennium B.C.) contained remains of is employed today in some areas of this region, Ephedra and the opium poppy (P. somniferum); 302 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57 moreover, an engraved bone tube containing the Shaanxi Province of China (Manhong and ``poppy pollen'' was also recovered from this Jianzhong 1990). The earliest written records of same shrine (Sarianidi 1994). Ma Huang use can be found in a classic Chinese The architecturally impressive temples in the compilation of herbs called Shen Nong Ben Cao Gonur depe complex of the BMAC are dated to Jing (Flaws 1998), which dates back to the ®rst the period of the early Mesopotamian civiliza- century A.D. This early, studious treatise is a tion; and the discovery of ritual vessels dated compilation of the greater part of all the knowl- between 2000±1000 B.C. with the remains of edge about herbal medicine before the Han dy- mind-altering drug plants in these temple shrines nasty, discussing the uses of 365 ancient medic- ``show that soma in its Iranian form haoma may inal plants.'' be considered as a composite psychoactive sub- stance comprising of Ephedra and Cannabis PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM (see Cannabis section below) in one instance The most ancient evidence for opium poppy and Ephedra and opium (see Papaver somnifer- use comes from sites in the Mediterranean re- um section below) in another.'' (Rudgley 1998; gion. Remarkable new evidence for a very old cf. Parpola 1994). opium poppy association with humans was re- According to Miller (2003), photographs of cently discovered in the underwater La Mar- the Ephedra, Cannabis, and Papaver, and ar- motta site in Lake Bracciano, , northwest of chaeological specimens presented in the Togo- Rome about 35 kilometers from the Tyrrhenian lok-21 report by Meier-Melikyan (1990), appear Sea. This site has been submerged by rising wa- to be consistent with the respective species; ters of the lake; however, approximately 7,700 however, the determination of the Papaver spe- years ago this small ``city'' was accessible from cies needs further study to con®rm that it is P. the sea by boat via the Arrone River. Italian ar- somniferum. Indeed, Miller suggests that the chaeologists, sifting through the ruins of this poppy seeds could have come from ®eld weeds Stone Age settlement, believe the La Marmotta or have been used as a food plant rather than as site was occupied by an early European Neolith- an opiate source for medicine or ritual. Miller ic farming community which lasted for about also points out that in an arid climate, the wood 500 years (Kunzig 2002). Many organic remains of Ephedra could have been burned for fuel. were well preserved underneath 3 meters of lime Other scientists, who have critically reviewed at the bottom of lake. Among the remarkable the evidence for Cannabis in the Central Asian discoveries of preserved remains of plant and BMAC sites, concluded that the clay impres- animal material are P. somniferum seeds which sions from Gonur Temenos which are claimed were presumably cultivated for food, oil, medi- to have been made with hemp (Cannabis)by cine, and possibly cult use (Fugazzola 2003). Sarianidi (in Appendix I of `Margiana and pro- ``The bigger discovery concerns a `great moth- tozorastrism') ``are clearly of [Millet] Panicum er' [with] palaeolithic [features] in a room of miliaceum'' (Bakels 2003; Nesbitt 2002). this Neolithic settlement [and thus the] poppy Ephedra species have, indeed, been used me- seeds of La Marmotta have been found in as- dicinally for hundreds, even thousands of years sociation with [a] religious [cult] room'' (Sa- in the regions where they grow. Ma huang morini 2003). The fossil seeds from this Italian (Ephedra sinica Stapf.), also known as Tsaopen- site are the oldest known seeds of P. somniferum Ma Huang, is a shrub, 30 to 50 cm in height, found in association with humans, indicating native to East Asia. An oral tradition in China that use and cultivation of the opium poppy dating back to approximately 2800 B.C., which dates back at least to the early Neolithic. is associated with the legendary ®rst Chinese Although the archaeological evidence for P. emperor and herbalist or shaman, Shen Nong (or somniferum presented above does not necessar- Shen Nung), refers to the medicinal use of the ily point toward mind-altering use, the following dried stems of Ma Huang to cure multiple ail- remark is insightful: ``The opium poppy has ments such as the common cold, coughs, asth- been cultivated since Neolithic times, perhaps in ma, headaches, and hay fever. Ephedra (``ma- the ®rst place for poppy-seed oil, but who can huang'') pollen has been recovered from the doubt that its narcotic property enhanced its val- Banpo sites (dated to ca. 4800 to 4300 B.C.) of ue'' (Dimbleby 1967; also see Merlin 1984). the Neolithic Yangshao culture in east Xi'an, in Cult use of the opium poppy approximately 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 303

2500 years ago (VIII±VI century B.C.) in south- dence reaches as far back as the Late Bronze east region of the Italian peninsula (Foggia Age, and possibly earlier. In this region evidence Province) has been interpreted from the archae- for P. somniferum comes predominantly in the ological remains (steles) of the pre-Roman Dau- form of artifacts recovered from Late Bronze ni culture (Leone 1995, 1995-96; Nava 1988). Age sites in , Crete, , , Pal- Leone (1995) hypothesizes that the sphere- estine, and Syria (e.g., Emboden 1981, 1989; shaped ``pendants worn at the belt by the femi- Gabra 1956; Kritikos and Papadaki 1967; Mar- nine Daunian Stelae represent opium plants, Pa- inatos 1937; Merlin 1984; Merrillees 1968, paver Somniferum.'' She believes that the sig- 1999; Mylonas 1966; Quibell and Hayter 1927; ni®cant ``spiritual role the plant played may Randall-MacIver and Wooley 1911; Sciaparelli have made it a monopoly of the priestly caste,'' 1927). The types of archaeological evidence and and that these illustrated pillars bearing inscrip- additional references can be found in Table 1. tions ``assume a new signi®cance in the light of Some key examples of related artifacts and re- this hypothesis.'' cent direct evidence are discussed below. Archaeobotanical evidence for opium poppy According to Merrillees (1999), ``Possibly the use has also been found recently in an ancient earliest representation of the poppy capsule in Roman farmhouse (villa rustica) excavated in the Aegean world is a small limestone half-cap- 1996 near Pompeii (at Villa Vesuvio, southern ital, about 5 inches high [12.5 cm], from the Italy). At the bottom of one of the storage vats Palace of Knossos in Crete.'' This small artifact (dolia) discovered in the cellar of this farmhouse resembling a ``dried-out poppy capsule'' has a (which is typical of other such structures of the ¯at top representing the stigma, and spherical same time of the great eruption, 79 A.D.) was a body similar to the poppy seed capsule and thal- high percentage of seeds from plants associated amus; it dates to the Late Minoan I (1600±1450 with medicinal use, including Papaver somni- B.C.), and was no doubt made to ®t on the upper ferum; these seeds were recovered along with part of a pillar to resemble a real poppy capsule bones of reptiles and amphibians, suggesting fastened to its stem (see Evans 1928; Zervos that this assemblage is the residue of a ``medic- 1956). inal'' preparation (Ciaraldi 2000). Remains of a Most of the evidence for the presence and use ``poppy seed cake'' were also found in a ``ritual of the opium poppy on mainland Greece in the context from the city of Pompeii,'' in a ``typical Mycenaean period (ca. 1550±1100 B.C.) is in the atrium'' building known as the ``House of the form of artifacts with representations of the seed Wedding of Hercules'' (Ciaraldi and Richardson capsule. However, certitude of these represen- 2000). These ``votive offerings'' probably hon- tations has been debated as to whether they de- ored the goddess ``Isis/Demeter.'' Although this pict poppy capsules or pomegranate fruits; the evidence of opium poppy use was excavated latter also are spherically shaped and have ``from deposits dated to the end of the second crowns that are serrated (e.g., see Seeberg 1969, century BC to AD 79, it is more likely that they also see Fig. 2). Some of the artifacts in question were probably deposited in the 1st century A.D.'' de®nitely do represent opium poppy capsules, or (Ciaraldi 2003). at least resemble P. somniferum much more Ancient evidence for P. somniferum in the closely. Among these are two examples from the Western Mediterranean, comes in the form of Peleponnesus that date to approximately 1500 capsules recovered from small grass woven bas- B.C. (the transition period from Late Helladic I kets from a burial cave (Cueva de los MurcieÂ- to Late Helladic II) which have ribbed bodies lagos) near AlbunÄol in the southern Spanish with serrated stigmas. One is a brooch-pine that province of Granada (Gongora 1868; Neuwiler has a gold head and a silver stem; the other is a 1935; see Fig. 3). These capsules have been ra- gold pendant, from Mycenae. As Merrillees diocarbon-dated to c. 4,200 years old (Giner (1979) has pointed out, these artifacts with rep- 1980). resentations of opium poppy capsules are very A relatively large amount of archaeological similar to two gold pins from Anatolia, dating evidence and literary reference to the ancient use to about 1400±1200 B.C. (the pins are part of the of the opium poppy from the Eastern Mediter- Norbert Schimmel collection in the New York's ranean region has been uncovered for its use as Metropolitan Museum). Besides the exterior fea- food, medicine, and cult activities. This evi- tures of these pins that have heads resembling 304 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57 Merlin 1984 lin 1984 lin 1984 lin 1984 Solecki, 1975 van Zeist and Casparie 1974; Li 1974 Heer 1866; Merlin 1979 Fredskild 1978; Merlin 1984 Sikulova and Opravil 1974; Mer- Chang, K 1968; Kung, C. T. 1959 Sordelli 1880; Hoops 1905; Mer- Pleyte 1875; Emboden 1989 Gizbert 1961; Merlin 1984 spp. pollen P. somnifer- Ephedra indicating presence as im- samples in grave um portant domesticated species tery jar, hemp clothon imprints pottery jar. capsule py seeds, 48% of layer sample imal fossils in settlement rope imprints, similar toused those from stem indicating domestication as offering to Osiris seed fossils Microfossils: Macrofossil: Poppy seedsMacrofossils: Poppy seeds FugazzolaArtifacts: 2003 weaving design on pot- Neuweiler 1935;Macrofossils: Merlin seeds 1984 & one unripe MacrofossilMacrofossils: (layer 18) 619 pop- Microfossil: PollenMacrofossils: 3000 poppy seedsMicro/Macrofossils: Villaret-Von Rochow Coles 1967; and Mer- Coles 1989 ColesMacrofossils: and Poppy Coles seeds 1989 w/ an- Macrofossils: 12 opium poppy IV outside of cave ly lakeside habitation S. Shensi Prov., China.perate Tem- climate Pfuf®ker, Switz. stance Switz. Lake settlement site Seeberg, Switz. Culture ment, end of Atlantean Period rated Pottery Culture Shanidar IV, N. Iraq, Burial Site TaiwanLa Marmotta, Lake Bracciano, Ita- CaucasusLac De Chalain Site, Switzerland, Pan Po Village, Weishui Valley, Artifacts:Robenhausen pottery Settlement, shards Lake w/ hemp Hornstaad-Hornle I, Lake Con- Neolithic ? Settlement, Weier, Charavinces, Lake Paladru, Cortaillod Lakeshore Settlement, Niederwil Bog Site, Switz. Pfyn Vavrovice, Czechoslovakia, settle- Lagozza, N. ItalyEgypt Lisitsyna and Prishcepenko 1977 Macrofossils: opium poppy seeds, Artifact: Fresco depicts water lily , Zeslawice, Radial Deco- ) N. caerulea (syn Ephedra Cannabis Papaver somniferum Peganun harmala P. somniferum Cannabis P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum Nymphaea nouchali P. somniferum B.C. B.C. HRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SELECTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE PREHISTORIC USE OF PSYCHOACTIVE DRUG PLANTS IN THE OLD B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. Date Species Location Evidence Reference 1. C B.P. B.P. . B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. Millennium Dyn. 2720 2560 ABLE th th T 60 000 WORLD 3000 10 000 5 4115±3535 3600 3200±2600 3200±2600 2900±2700 4800±3200 4000±3000 4000 3300 4 5700 Neolithic (no date) 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 305 14221; Merlin 1984 1911 chel, K. 1996 Gongora 1868; Merlin 1984 Merrillees 1968 Univ. Penn. Artifact #CBS Randall-MacIver and Wooley Merrillees 1989 Quibbel and Hayter 1927 Emboden 1989 Bisset, N. G. et al. 1996; Kas- Emboden 1981 Merlin 1984 sules & seeds inhandbag esparta grass opium poppy capsule; twoearrings gold with capsule represen- tation; gold necklace withpoppy gold capsule pendants opium poppy as ingredientprescription? in poppy capsule bead necklace containing crude opium boy with disproportionate car- nelian ``poppy capsule'' ear- rings, found in cof®n for puri®cation of nostrils containing crude opium andthat oil served as the solvent of the Dead) explainspicts & shamanic de- transformations related w/ N. caerulea lace w/ poppy capsule pendants . Macrofossils: opium poppy cap- Artifacts: blue faience copy of Macrofossils: Poppy seed fossils Werneck 1949; Merlin 1984 Artifact: carnelian ``vasiform'' Base-ring juglet once held liquid ONTINUED 1. C Âlogos, ABLE T Spain, cave burial site Tauosrit, Thebes Mistelbach, N. . grave site Egypt (Tell el-Ajjul near Gaza) Tomb of King Siphtah & Queen Nippur, Iran Artifact: may contain reference to Cueva de Los Murcie Hugelgraber (hill trench/grave) New Kingdom Tombs, Buhen, S. Teti Pyramid, Saqqara, Egypt Artifact:Thebes, statue Egypt of Tomb small of naked Nakht Artifact: Fresco depicts mandrake EgyptPalestine (probably) and Egypt Egypt Base-ring juglet once held liquid Literature: Papyrus of Ani (Book Mari, Syria Artifact: Late Bronze Age neck- rum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum Mandragora of®cina- P. somniferum P. somniferum N. nouchali P. somniferum B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. century Date Species Location Evidence Reference th ? (New Kindgom) B.C. B.C. Dyn. 1550±1350 Dyn. 1550±1350 Dyn. 1550±1350 Dyn. 1550±1350 or 15 century th B.C. th B.C. th B.C. th B.C. th th date) 2000±1500 2500 16 18 2100 18 1500±1350 15 18 Late Bronze Age (no 18 306 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57 Merlin 1984 Emboden 1981 Emboden 1981 Merrillees 1962; Sjoquist 1940; Bisset et al. 1996; Kochel 1996 Merlin 1984 Sciaparelli 1927; Gabra 1956; Emboden 1981 Emboden 1989 Emboden 1981 Bisset et al. 1996; Kochel 1996) Blegen 1936; Merlin 1984 N. offering to Horus. Ne- N. caerulea, M. of®ci- caerulea bamum-Fresco depicts shafts of narum, P. somniferum ring Ware vases inripe form poppy of capsule; un- juglets containing crude opium of unripe poppy capsule,taining con- crude opium ``poppy capsule'' beads taining opium sort Meriathon offers man- drakes & lillies to Semenkhara Hathor with necklace oflilies water and mandrake Nymphaea & two mandrakes, with ornamental collar bearing mandrake fruit. Coffer embel- lishment, wife ministers sick Tut with opium poppy,phaea Nym- & mandrake fruit unripe poppy capsule, contain- ing crude opium statue, with 3 pinspoppy representing capsules in head . Artifacts: Menna-Fresco shows Artifacts: Cypriot juglets, Base- 2 Base-ring Ware vases in form Artifact: necklace with gold ONTINUED 1. C ABLE T mum & Ipuky, Thebes tian Grave site and another unknown sitePalestine in Egypt Tomb of Menna, Tomb of Neba- Tomb of Cha, EgyptTomb of Semenkhara, EgyptEgypt: Tomb of Tutankhamen Artifact: limestone relief, his Macrofossil: con- alabaster vessel con- Tomb of Artifact: Tutankhamen, Egypt Unguent jar depicts Artifacts: wall scene, Tut holds Cyprus, Egypt, Palestine, Egyp- EgyptPalestine, Tell el-Ajjul near Gaza Buried chamber at Gazi, CreteRoyal Tomb, Tell Artifacts: El-Amarna, 80 cm tall terracotta Base-ring Ware vase in form of cinarum, P. somni- ferum cinarum cinarum cinarum N. nouchali, M. of®- P. somniferum N. nouchali, M. of®- N. nouchali, M. of®- N. nouchali, M. of®- P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. cent. cent. Date Species Location Evidence Reference B.C. B.C. th th B.C. B.C. Dyn. 1550±1350 Dyn. 1550±1350 cent. or 15 or 15 cent. th B.C. th B.C. th th th th 18 16 18 1450±1100 1350 1350±1338 14 16 15 1350 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 307 1884 padaki 1967 James 1982 Emboden 1981; Schweinfurth Karageorghis 1976 Kritikos and Papadaki 1967 Emboden 1989 Li 1974 Kilgour 1962 Thomas 1949 Touw 1981; Li 1975 Dawkins 1929; Kritikos and Pa- petals in Cannabis as a ®ber. Also N. alba Cannabis blue water-lily offering torus Ho- funeral wreaths about mum- mies pipe,'' poppy seeds foundfooted in bowl a ing a shaft ofcapsule wheat and poppy for puri®cation of nostrils ments made of hemp holding poppy plant (disputed interpretation) may show knowledge ofdicinal me- use of opium of evidence of use of seeds as a domesticatedcrop grain sule'' bone pendants &®gurine lead . Artifact: religious scene shows Macrofossils: Macrofossil: funeral garlandsArtifact/Macrofossil: ``opium Pleyte 1875; Emboden 1989 Artifact: pieces of hemp cloth Belinger 1962 Macrofossil: Suggests cultivation Coles and Coles 1989 Artifact: Statue of Demeter hold- Artifact: Symbolic ``poppy cap- ONTINUED 1. C ABLE T Egypt tep I, Egypt Amenhotep I tolia, Cyprus Temple #4 ra) Switz. Marketplace Sparta, Greece Temple of Sethos I, Abydos, Tombs of Ramses II & Amenho- Egypt: Tombs of Ramses II and Burned Palace, Beyeesultan, Ana- Thebes, EgyptBurial site, China, Chou DynastyDebris pile, Gordion, Arifact/Macrofossil: (near Cloth Anja- frag- Iraq Artifact: FrescoAuvernier-Nord, depicts Lake water Neuchatel, lily IranThe Agora, Athens, Greece Open Artifact: Bas relief, physician China Artifact: Assyrian medical tablet Literature: Chou-Li, mentions use The Sanctuary of Artemus Orthia, N. nouchali Nymphaea alba sav. N. nouchali P. somniferum N. nouchali Cannabis. Cannabis P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum P. somniferum Cannabis P. somniferum B.C. B.C. Date Species Location Evidence Reference B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. Dyn. 1200 1085 th 1309±1224 1230 1220 900 668±626 1230 20 (no date) 1122±249 1000 807±779 500±300 200 308 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57 Merwe 1975 Dombrowski 1971; Van der Crawford and Takamiya 1990 Canna-

Fig. 7. Tubular vase probably used to inhale opi- um vapors. It was recovered from a subterranean ``cult'' chamber in Gazi, Crete (near Knossos), dated traces to 1450±1100 B.C. (Courtesy of Vassos Karageorghis, bis pipe bowls containing vation

. former director, National Museum of Antiquities, Nic-

Macrofossil/Arifact: Two ceramic osia, Cyprus). ONTINUED the poppy capsule, inside each of the hollow

1. C pinheads ``is a loose object that rattles when the object is shaken. This was clearly done to mimic

ABLE the seeds in dried-out poppy capsules. The mod- T el for these pieces of jewelry was not the unripe, juice-laden bulb, but rather the desiccated cap- sule, which is often included in modern dried- ¯ower arrangements'' (Merrillees 1999).

Ethiopia Certainly one of the prime examples of a con- LevantHokkaido, JapanLalibela Cave, Begemeder Prov., Macrofossil: Seeds suggest culti- Ancient Jewish Coinagenection Meshorer 1982 of the opium poppy with ritual and/or spiritual use in the Eastern Mediterranean area is a large terracotta goddess ®gurine (ht. 80 cm) recovered from a subterranean ``cult'' chamber in Gazi, Crete (near Knossos). This ``Poppy Goddess'' statue has a half-length body with up- lifted hands and a trance-like facial expression (Blegen 1936; Marinatos 1937, see Cover Illus-

P. somniferum Cannabis Cannabis tration). The artifact has been dated to Late Mi- noan III (1450±1100 B.C.). It has three move- able, incised pins in the head which have been B.C. identi®ed as representations of opium poppy capsules tapped for the alkaloid-rich sap; in ad- dition, it was found in association with para- Date Species Location Evidence Reference centuries A.D. st phernalia (including a tubular vase, Fig. 7) that

A.D. indicate probable inhalation of opium vapors and 1 Cent. (Kritikos and Papadaki 1967; Merlin 1984). The nd th 2 9 1320 ``Poppy Goddess'' may also represent ``a priest- 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 309

a long-standing familiarity with [opium]'' (Mer- rillees 1999). An extensive late Bronze Age trade network for the production and export of opium latex, apparently centered in Cyprus, sup- plied a variety of ancient cultures in the eastern Mediterranean as a medicinal balm or a ritual substance. Late Bronze Age ceramic juglets (Base-ring ware, Fig. 9), most of them similar in shape and approximately 10±15 cm tall, have Fig. 8. Cylindrical, engraved, ivory ``pipe'' (13.5 cm long) with ``distinct traces of burning,'' probably been found in tombs and settlements throughout showing the stains from inhaled opium smoke, found much of the Middle East. Turned upside down, in ritualistic context (12th century B.C.) at Kition on these thin-necked, pear-shaped, small vessels Cyprus. (Courtesy of Vassos Karageorghis, former Di- with their round bases resemble opium poppies rector, National Museum of Antiquities, Nicosia, Cy- prus). pods. Further indication of what was contained inside is indicated by the swollen bodies that have white markings symbolizing knife inci- ess hallucinating for the purpose of uttering sions made on poppies capsules to allow opium prophecies'' (Merrillees 1999). latex to ooze out for collection (see Fig. 10). Similar, or associated, opium use parapher- Hundreds of the Late Bronze Age, Base-ring nalia (e.g., a comparable tubular vase) were also juglets have been found in sites in areas includ- found in a roughly contemporaneous, ritualistic ing Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Some of them, context (12th century B.C.) at Kition on Cyprus. analyzed with the gas chromatography proce- One of the most remarkable artifacts from this dure in the 1980s and 1990s, have turned up Late Bronze Age site is a 13.5 cm long, cylin- traces of opium (Bisset et al. 1996; Koschel drical (slightly tapered), carefully engraved, ivo- 1996; Merrillees 1989). Since many of these ry ``pipe'' with ``distinct traces of burning,'' Cypriot juglets were recovered from Late probably showing the stains from inhaled opium Bronze Age tombs in the Levant, we can sur- smoke (Karageorghis 1976; Merlin 1984; see mise that these poppy capsule-shaped vessels Fig. 8). were ``believed to be magically invested with By the 12th century B.C. ``Cyprus already had the same therapeutic properties as its contents;

Fig. 9. Late Bronze Age ceramic juglets (Base-ring ware), most of them similar in shape and approximately 10±15 cm tall, have been found in tombs and settlements throughout much of the Middle East. Turned upside down, these thin-necked, pear-shaped, small vessels with their round bases resemble opium poppy pods (Courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England). 310 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57

fore with the goddess Demeter. This deity in par- ticular was connected with the opium poppy, and as such she was frequently depicted with stemmed grains of barley or wheat and opium poppy capsules in her hands or headdresses (e.g., Evans 1925; Kritikos and Papadaki 1967; Merrillees 1999, Fig. 11). In fact, P. somniferum was a weedy or cultivated plant intimately in- volved in the cultural ecology of ancient Greek, and probably many other agricultural societies of the ancient world (Merlin 1984). The divine, twin brothers, Hypnos and Thanatos, represent- ing sleep and death, were also often showed with poppies in their crowns or their hands, manifesting the Greek awareness that sleep in- duced by opium brought rest and oblivion, but an overdose might be fatal. The opium poppy, both in plant and in capsule form, appears on various coins of the ancient Greek and Roman periods, at least in some cas- es, testament to the use of the poppy as a symbol of various divinities (e.g., see Kritikos and Pa- padaki 1967; Merlin 1984). The capsule of the Fig. 10. Incised, unripe opium poppy capsule with opium poppy is also shown on Jewish coinage latex (opium) oozing out. dated to the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. (Meshorer 1982). Recent North African evidence for opium the juglet itself may have symbolized the eternal poppy in association with people comes from a sleep of the dead'' (Merrillees 1999). site in Tunisia that yielded P. somniferum ma- In Classical Greece, the opium poppy was a terials from the Carthaginian, Iron Age, Punic, multipurpose plant that had secular and sacred Roman, Medieval, and Byzantine periods (van uses, including mundane medicinal and food ap- Zeist et al. 2001). plications, as well as muiltifarious associations Macrofossil and microfossil evidence from with divine aspects of the Greek culture (see ancient Neolithic European sites north of the Kritikos and Papadaki 1967; Merlin 1984; Mer- Mediterranean prior to 2000 B.C. for the opium rillees 1999). Ancient Greeks associated fertility poppy, Papaver somniferum, is relatively abun- and abundance with the opium poppy, and there- dant, especially in the Swiss Foreland and other

Fig. 11. This terra cotta relief was recovered from Magna Graecia (ancient Greek colonies of South Italy). It depicts the Goddess of Spring (Persephon) emerging from the underworld with poppy capsules, sheaves of grain, and lilies in both hands (from Evans 1925:16, Fig. 18, Courtesy of the Journal of Hellenic Studies). 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 311

Fig. 13. Hemp twine and rope made from Cannabis.

(1998) for the Neolithic period from the Hes- bayan Linear Pottery culture in ; and Monckton (2000) for Iron Age and Roman sites in the Arrow Valley, Great Britain. Many Me- dieval archaeological sites have also been shown to contain remains of P. somniferum; for ex- ample, Wiethold (1995) documented evidence from 14th century A.D. well/cesspits from Kiel, in Schleswig-Hostein, Germany.

CANNABIS Much evidence for the early use of Cannabis Fig. 12. Cannabis plant (courtesy of Robert Connell for ®ber, food, medicine, ceremony and recrea- Clarke). tion can be gleaned from ancient written records (Fig. 12, 13, 14, and 15). However, the archae- areas in Central Europe (Fig. 5 and 6). These remains, excluding the recent discovery at La Marmotta site (north of Rome) described above, (e.g., in Poland, , , Aus- tria, Switzerland, Germany, northern Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the ) date back variously to about 3000 B.C. based on radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic analysis (Merlin 1984; Coles and Coles 1989; for additional references see chronological table 1). Many recent references for the opium poppy evidence in ancient Europe have been provided by Kroll (2003). For example, see the following: Gyulai (1996) for late Bronze Age and Iron Age sites (Urn ®eld period) of the Hallstatt and La- teÁne cultures in Hungary; Kroll (2001) for mid- dle Neolithic Funnel Beaker, TRB culture, at Wangels, Eastern Holsatia, in Northwestern Ger- many; Castelletti and Rottoli (1999) for the Neo- lithic period in Italy; Heim and Hauzeur (2002) for the Neolithic period from the Rubane and Fig. 14. Hemp seed from Cannabis (Courtesy of Blicquy culture in Belgium; Heim and Jadin Richard Evans Schultes). 312 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57

is the Xia Xiao Zheng written around the 16th century B.C. It refers to hemp as one of the main crops grown in ancient China (Yu 1987). Re- mains of Cannabis ®bers, along with probable ®ber impressions and hemp seeds have been re- covered from a variety of archeological sites, es- pecially near the Huang He and Yangtze rivers. Cord impressed pottery with possible ®ber ev- idence of Cannibis use has been dated to ap- proximately 10,000 B.C. in early post-glacial ®shing sites on the south China coast, especially at the Yuan-Shun site in Taiwan (Chang 1968); and others dating from the ®fth millennium B.C. up to the second century A.D. have been found in several regions on the mainland of China (Li 1974a,b). Sherratt (1997) noted ``that the early use of cord-impressed pottery in ChinaÐthe so- called Sheng-wen horizonÐwas associated with an early use of hemp and an appreciation (ex- plicit in the early historical records) of its nar- cotic properties.'' More recent evidence of actual hemp ®ber Fig. 15. Female in¯orescence of Cannabis. comes from the Song Dynasty (c. 960±1280 A.D.) in the form of statuary fabricated with hemp cordage that was recovered from a site ological record for early use of Cannabis is near Chin-Ch'eng in Shanxi Province, northeast much less extensive. Nevertheless, the macro- China (Kuo 1978), and from a Shan Kingdom fossil, pollen, and indirect material evidence site (c. 1520±1030 B.C.) at Anyang in Henan from prehistory are substantial. Province, eastern China (Chang 1968). Even The earliest human use of Cannabis appears older Cannabis ®ber material has been excavat- to have occurred in the steppe regions of Central ed from a Zhou Dynasty tomb in Shanxi Prov- Asia or in China (e.g., see Merlin 1972; Lu and ince; and complete hemp cloth specimens have Clarke 1995; Fleming and Clarke 1998). Hemp been found in Han Dynasty tombs (ca. 100 B.C.± was certainly one of the earliest crop plants of 100 A.D.) in Gansu Province, northern China China. Over hundreds, perhaps thousands of (Kansu Museum 1972; for additional ancient years, early inhabitants of Central and/or Eastern Chinese ®ber and hemp paper artifact evidence, Asia domesticated Cannabis varieties from wild see e.g., Cheng 1959, 1963, 1966; Li 1974a,b; plants into arti®cially selected, cultivated crops. and Yin 1978). Cannabis seeds dated to the 9th Chinese historical records and archeological century A.D. have been recovered from Hokkai- data suggest that the history of hemp cultivation do, (Crawford and Takamiya 1990); Can- and use in Eastern Asia is approximately 5,000 nabis along with signi®cant uses in ritual, cloth- to 6,000 years old. China therefore may have ing production, and early papermaking were in- been the ®rst region to cultivate, and even use troduced to Japan from China via Korea approx- hemp. ``From the time of the earliest primitive imately 1400 years ago (Hunter 1943). societies (about 4,000±5,000 years ago) to the The use of Cannabis to the west of China has Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC to 220 AD) an- a very ancient history, perhaps older and some- cient Chinese techniques of hemp sowing, cul- what different than that in China. Sherratt (1987, tivation, and processing developed rapidly and 1997) suggests that early inhabitants of the Eur- became fairly advanced'' (Lu and Clarke 1995). asian steppes, members of the Sredni Stog cul- The earliest Neolithic farming communities ture that ¯ourished about 4500±3500 B.C., used along the Wei and Huang He (Yellow) rivers Cannabis to make a ``socially approved intoxi- cultivated hemp as well as millet, wheat, beans, cant,'' celebrating its signi®cance ``by imprint- and rice. The oldest Chinese agricultural treatise ing it on their pottery.'' The crucial relationship 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 313 between horse and human rider originated in the Sredni Stog culture which ¯ourished in the Ukraine 6,000 years ago (Anthony et al. 1991). The origin of horse riding was the ®rst signi®- cant innovation in human land transport predat- ing the invention of the wheel, and hemp ®bers may have played an important role in this crucial invention of horse riding. One very notable historic reference supports the ®rst ethnographic evidence of an early ``smoking culture'' in temperate Eurasia (Sher- ratt 1995). This indication concerning Cannabis comes from Herodotus (c. 446 B.C.), in which he describes the post-funeral puri®cation ritual of Scythians on the Pontic steppes: ``On a framework of three sticks meeting at the top, they stretch pieces of woolen cloth, taking care Fig. 16. Tent frame and bronze vessels with stones to get the joins as perfect as they can, and inside and Cannabis seeds found in a series of burial mounds this little tent they put a dish with red-hot stones at Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains of Siberia dating to the ®fth century B.C. (Courtesy of Sir Harry Godwin on it. Then they take some hemp seed, creep into and the Journal Antiquity). the tent, and throw the seeds on the hot stones. At once it began to smoke, giving off vapor un- surpassed by any vapor-bath one could ®nd in back in this area some ®ve or six thousand years Greece. The Scythians enjoy it so much that and was the focus of the social and religious they would howl with pleasure'' (Herodotus, IV, rituals of the pastoral peoples of central Eurasia 75). in prehistoric and early historic times.'' The accuracy of this ancient account was es- According to Sherratt (1987) ``The ®rst cer- tablished by archaeological excavations in 1947 tain identi®cation of hemp [®ber, or any form] of a series of burial mounds at Pazyryk in the in Europe is in the Hallstatt-period FuÈrstengrab Altai Mountains of Siberia dating to the ®fth [grave] of Hochdorf near Stuttgart, dated to c. century B.C. In each burial a 1.2 m-high wooden 500 BC'' (cf. KoÈrber-Grohne 1985; also see Mer- frame tent was found; and each tent enclosed a lin 1972 for an older, general review). Kroll bronze vessel with stones and hemp seeds, pre- (2003) asserts that the only de®nite Neolithic re- sumably left smoking in the grave (Fig. 16). ``A mains of Cannabis are from ``, Ukraine leather pouch with hemp seeds provided sup- or westernmost China.'' He refers to Larina plies, and scattered hemp, coriander and melilot (1999) for evidence of Cannabis from the Neo- seeds were also recovered'' (Sherratt 1995; cf. lithic Linear Pottery Culture in the Russian area Rudenko 1970). New evidence for Cannabis use of the inter¯uve between the Prut and Dniester by the Scythian tribes during the early Iron Age rivers, Pashkevich (1997) for early farmers uti- has been uncovered in the Ukraine (Pashkevich lizing hemp in the Ukraine (Neolithic and 1999). Bronze Age), and RoÈsch (1998, 1999) for ref- From two earlier cultures, one in erence to Neolithic use of hemp (Hanf) as a ®ber from a Kurgan Pit-grave at Gurbanesti near Bu- plant (Gespinstp¯anzen). According to Kroll charest dated to the ``later third millennium BC,'' (2003), Cannabis was certainly part of the and the other in a northern Caucasian Early Bronze Age southeastern European steppe en- Bronze Age site (more or less comparable third vironment ``even in late Neolithic settlements.'' millennium age) from which similar ``pipe-cup'' However, he points out that similar to the nettle, vessels (polypod, i.e., footed bowls) containing Urtica dioica, ``feral forms of Cannabis may be hemp seeds were recovered (Ecsedy 1979). ruderals, like nowadays in [all of] southeast Eu- Based on the Herodotus quote and these seed rope. The question is: feral forms from domestic discoveries in widely separated locations, Sher- ones? Or domestic forms from wild ones? There ratt (1991) argues that ``the practice of burning is no answer, one may use feral forms as well cannabis as a narcotic is a tradition which goes as domestic or true wild ones.'' 314 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57

Many other ancient sites, with evidence of Whether or not Cannabis was ®rst used to Cannabis in Europe have been documented. For make ®ber, for food (seed of hemp), as a psy- example, see the following: Gyulai (1996) for choactive resin for medicine, for ritual or spiri- evidence from Bronze Age and Iron Age (Urn tual purposes, or a combination of these moti- ®eld period) Hallstatt and LateÁne cultures in vations, the archaeological record provides evi- Hungary; Robinson and Karg (2000) for Bronze dence that it was a signi®cant ethnobotanical or Iron Age remains at Vallensbñk in Denmark; source in antiquity. The ancient medical, psy- KoÈnig (2001) for Roman Iron Age evidence choactive, and ritual uses of Cannabis are often from Trier in Germany; Opravil (2000) for early dif®cult to separate, especially those mind-alter- Middle Age evidence from MikulcÏice in the ing preparations used for medicine, psychologi- Czech Republic; and LempiaÈinen (1999) for a cal stimulation, and ritual use; and, of course, review of the history of hemp (Cannabis sativa the interrelationships of traditional religious be- L.) in including archaeobotanical evi- lief, ritualistic practice, and medicinal applica- dence from 800±1600 A.D. tions among psychoactive plants is not limited Archaeological evidence of Cannabis from to Cannabis. In any case, the therapeutic use of Near Eastern sites is scarce, but an intriguing Cannabis has a lengthy and ongoing history, piece of hemp fabric was recovered from a Phyr- with very diverse reports of its medicinal appli- gian Kingdom grave mound site at Gordion, cations. It is well known, for example, that the near Ankara in Turkey which has been dated to ancient medicinal texts (Materia medica)of the late 8th century B.C. (Bellinger 1962; God- Greece and India, as well as China (see above) win 1967). refer to speci®c uses for this plant. In should Remarkable evidence for Cannabis use in the also be noted here that recent archeobotanical Near East was found more recently in central evidence for Cannabis dating between 400 B.C.± . In the town of Beit Shemesh, near Jeru- 100 A.D. has been found in the Kali Gandaki salem, archaeologists uncovered the skeleton of Valley of Nepal which connects the Tibetan pla- a girl about 14 years old in a tomb from the late teau with the plains of India (KnoÈrzer 2000). Roman period who died in childbirth; ``Three In Africa the archaeological evidence for an- bronze coins found in the tomb dating to AD cient Cannabis is not substantial yet; but its ®rst 315±392 indicate that the tomb was in use dur- presence and use on the African continent may ing the fourth century AD'' (Zias et al. 1993). A date back as much as 2,000 years ago. All of small amount (6.97 g) of a dark burnt substance the historical references suggest dispersal from was found in the abdominal area of the skeleton. Central, South, or Southeast Asia into Africa pri- Initially thought to have been incense, analysis or to European contact. Indeed, the archeologi- by Israeli police and botanists at Hebrew Uni- cal, linguistic, and historical evidence from the versity determined that the ancient material is a 12th century A.D. to the present indicates that mixture of Cannabis resin (hashish), dried seeds, Cannabis was brought to Africa by Moslem sea fruit and common reeds (Phragmites). Direct ev- traders from the Indian subcontinent, via Arabia, idence of ancient drug substances themselves is possibly as early as the 1st century A.D. (du Toit rare because organic compounds decay rapidly; 1980; also see Emboden 1972 and LaBarre however, the substance found in this person's 1980). Cannabis appears to have spread down skeleton was preserved because it had been car- the eastern coast of Africa and then inland bonized through burning. The archaeologists throughout the tropical sub-Saharan region. Dis- who uncovered this evidence believe the drug persal across Africa was most likely slow, as material was used as an aid in child birth, since only scattered sedentary farming cultures inhab- it increases the strength and rate of recurring ited this region. contractions in women giving birth; it was used According to Emboden (1972), ``None of the in deliveries until the 19th century, after which more elaborate techniques of using Cannabis in it was replaced by newly developed drugs. How- the Mediterranean or the Near East accompanied ever, others have disagreed with the strict me- the plant into Africa, and practices in the central dicinal use hypothesis (Prioreschi and Babin part of the continent in the thirteenth century 1993), and argued that ritualistic use cannot yet were very simple.'' Direct evidence of Cannabis be discounted. Unfortunately this short, young use comes from ``two ceramic smoking-pipe female probably died due to excessive bleeding. bowls, excavated in Lalibela Cave, Begemeder 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 315

Fig. 18. Radiocarbon dating graph for ``cannabis- derived compounds'' found in ceramic smoking-pipe bowls excavated from Lalibela Cave, Begemeder Province, Ethiopia (Courtesy of Nikolaas van der Mer- we).

an Africa, ``The simple but ef®cacious practice of throwing hemp plants on burning coals of a ®re and staging what might today be called a Fig. 17. Clay pipe bowls found in Lalibela Cave, Begemeder Province, Ethiopia, dated to 1320 Ϯ 80 ``breath in'' seems to have been popular initially. A.D. (Courtesy of Nikolaas van der Merwe). This was elaborated into a ritual in which mem- bers of a given tribal unit would prostrate them- selves in a circle around the ®re and each would Province, Ethiopia'' (van der Merwe 1975; cf. extend a reed into the fumes in order to capture Dombrowski 1971; Fig. 17). Modi®ed thin-layer the volatized resins, without the accompanying chromatography indicated the pipe residues con- irritation produced by standing over the vapors tained ``cannabis-derived compounds.'' The and inhaling. At a later date the ®re was elevated bowls were dated to 1320 Ϯ 80 A.D. According to an altar, where humans could sit or stand to van der Merwe, this evidence suggests that while inhaling through a tube extending into the ``some variety of Cannabis sativa was smoked smoke.'' around Lake Tana in the 13th±14th century, in Excavations at the Iron Age site of Sebanzi much the same way as it is today.'' Subsequent Hill on the southern edge of the Central Kafue related dates for charcoal at 630 Ϯ 80 B.P. and basin in the Southern Province of by residue in one of the pipes at 510 Ϯ 90 (Fig. 18) Fagan and Phillipson (1965) uncovered four have been reported (van der Merwe 2003). La baked clay, non-Arab designed smoking pipes Barre (1980) notes that ``the hypothesis of Af- (Fig. 19 and 20). Radiocarbon dating, along with rican pipe smoking in the fourteenth century related pottery sequences, for the oldest two must, however, run the gauntlet of Americanist specimens indicates that these were in use about opinion that the smoking of plant narcotics 1100±1300 A.D., and the others from the 13th± would be post-Columbian, after the pattern of 14th century (van der Merwe 2003). Although Amerindian tobacco smoking.'' chemical tests of the these pipes from Zambia However smoking, as noted above, most have not yet been possible, the excavators of the probably took place in Africa, at least in some pipes argued that they were used for smoking regions, well before European exploration. For Cannabis because tobacco could not have been example, Leonotus leonurus (wild ``dagga''), known in Zambia at the time (Phillipson 1965). various species of Salsola (``ganna''), and most An unusual ®nd reported from the Kalahari ubiquitously Cannabis were smoked as far back Desert of provides a ``prehistoric'' re- as the Iron Age in , predominantly cord of pollen from about 130 km west of the among Bantu speakers (du Toit 1975). Okavango River delta. In association with the According to Emboden (1972), in Sub-Sahar- calcite cave deposits (speleothem) that have pre- 316 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57

Fig. 20. A contemporary smoking pipe from Kariba, Zambia (Courtesy of Nikolaas van der Merwe).

Fig. 19. Iron Age clay pipe bowl fragments from Sa- banzi, Zambia (Courtesy of Nikolaas van der Merwe). by 1973) that was consciously or inadvertently introduced into Madagascar. Burney believes the cipitated from solution in a cave scientists have widespread wild (?) distribution of hemp plants recovered a series of pollen fossils: ``Only one is a ``regional-scale signal'' of human impact in pollen type was identi®ed that may directly in- Madagascar, and that Cannabis was an early hu- dicate human activity, Cannabis/Humulus (Bur- man introduction by ancient seafarers who used ney 1987a,b, 1988), which ®rst appears in the the plant for various maritime uses to make sample dated to c. 3827 Ϯ 298 BP'' (Burney et rope, sails, water-resistant clothing, and hull al. 1994). For a number of reasons Burney be- caulking. ``Therefore hemp would, like goats, lieves that this pollen fossil type can be best pigs, and rats, be among the ®rst species intro- identi®ed as Cannabis (Burney 2003). duced to new lands by Indian Ocean sailors Perhaps the most remarkable recent archaeo- coming ashore for provisioning and, eventually, logical or paleobotanical evidence for Cannabis longer stays (Burney 1997; cf. Vavilov 1949). comes from Madagascar. The pollen record for Cannabis was not introduced to the New World Cannabis in lake sediment cores on this large until after 1492 A.D. island about 300 miles east of southern Africa are derived from several sites, with some dating NYMPHAEA NOUCHALI AND MANDRAGORA back to approximately 2000 YBP. ``Pollen of the OFFICINARUM introduced hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, ®rst ap- The genus Nymphaea included approximately pears at Lake Tritrivakely in the Central high- 40 species found in tropical and temperate cli- lands about this time (Burney 1987a), and was mates of both hemispheres. For a variety of rea- present in a core from Lake Kavitaha about 200 sons, much synonymy occurs. The blue water km to the north from the beginning of the record lily, Nymphaea caerulea Sav., is now lumped at ca. 1500 years B.P.'' (Burney 1987b, also see with Nymphaea capensis Thunb. into Nymphaea Burney 1988). nouchali Burm. f. var. caerulea (Sav.) Verdc This ancient evidence for the Cannabis in the (Fig. 21). Southern Hemisphere coincides roughly with the Emboden (1978, 1981, 1989) combined artis- earliest human arrivals in Madagascar (Austro- tic, papyri, and paleoethnobotanical sources as nesians colonists or traders from elsewhere?) ap- evidence for ancient Egyptian use of two taxa, proximately 2,000 years ago. These early ex- the ``sacred blue water lily,'' Nymphaea caeru- plorers or traders undoubtedly brought Cannabis lea (ϭ nouchali) and the mandrake, Mandrag- along as part of their ``transported landscape'' ora of®cinarum (Fig. 22) in shamanistic practic- (Anderson 1967) or ``portmanteau biota'' (Cros- es. Representations of the water lily in wall 2003] MERLIN: PSYCHOACTIVE PLANT USE IN THE OLD WORLD 317

Fig. 21. The Blue Water Lily, Nymphaea nouchali var. Caerulea (Courtesy of William A. Emboden). Fig. 22. Mandragora of®cinarum from Matthias de L'Obel 1581, Plantarum sev Stirpium Icones, An- paintings began during the Fourth Dynasty in twerp. ancient Egypt and increased in frequency until the Eighteenth Dynasty when this lily was united with the ``golden'' (deep yellow when ripe) fruit opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, to the of the mandrake (Fig. 23). Depictions of these priestly caste are the papyri, ``. . . books of the mind-altering species in Egyptian frescos were dead, books of ritual magic, and related pictorial originally interpreted as components of funeral evidenceÐwhich were never meant to be seen scenes, with the plants as offerings. However, by the publicÐpresent those same plants that more recently this graphic evidence has been in- are the vehicles to ecstasy'' (Emboden 1989). terpreted, with the help of various papyri, as por- For more evidence for these three species from trayals of ritual healing: ``The abundant data in- Egypt in the form of artifacts, papyri, and fresco dicate that the shamanistic priest, who was high- scenes see James (1982), Randall-MacIver and ly placed in the strati®ed society, guided the Wooley (1911), Quibbel and Hayter (1927), souls of the living and dead, provided for the Merrillees (1968), and Merlin (1984). transmutation of souls into other bodies and the In a recent issue of Economic Botany, Mc- personi®cation of plants as possessed by human Donald (2002) has attempted to determine the spirits, as well as performing other shamanistic Middle Eastern Tree of Life, which he concludes activities'' (Emboden 1989). is none other than ``the Egyptian lotus'' or ``Lily The interpretation of ancient literary, artistic, of the Nile'' (Nymphaea nouchali). Indeed, or artifact interpretation without actual botanical McDonald argues that we must ``identify the evidence to support the identi®cation of psycho- `sacral tree' of Mesopotamia as a stylized lotus active drug plant use in antiquity limits a con- shoot rather than a palm tree,'' and that ``the clusive determination. In any case, the most sig- classical lotus bud-and-blossom motif that we ni®cant forms of evidence that seem to link the encounter in Egypt as early as 3000 BCE and in sacred blue lily and mandrake, along with the Mesopotamia by the second millennium BCE is 318 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 57

The evidence provided here should reveal the potential for such work in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following people for kindly sharing relevant information: Corrie Bakels, David Burney, Robert C. Clarke, Marina Ciaraldi, Maria Fugazzola, Helmut Kroll, Naomi Miller, Mark Nesbitt, Forest Pitts, Timothy Rieth, Karl Reinhard, Giorgio Samorini, Don Ug- ent, Nikolaas van der Merwe, Joseph Zias, and especially the late Richard Evans Schultes for his inspiration and encouragement to keep tracking the ancient, traditional use of the ``Plants of the Gods.''

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