Frontal and lateral view of a Muna-type (AD 750-900) paneled flask with distinctive serrated-edge decoration.
PULLMAN, Wash. – Scientists have identified the presence of a non-tobacco plant in ancient Maya drug containers for the first time.
The Washington State University researchers detected Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida) in residues taken from 14 miniature Maya ceramic vessels.
Originally buried more than 1,000 years ago on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, the vessels also contain chemical traces present in two types of dried and cured tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum and N. rustica. The research team, led by anthropology postdoc Mario Zimmermann, thinks the Mexican marigold was mixed with the tobacco to make smoking more enjoyable.
Scientists have identified the presence of a non-tobacco plant in ancient Maya drug containers for the first time.
The Washington State University researchers detected Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida) in residues taken from 14 miniature Maya ceramic vessels.
Originally buried more than 1,000 years ago on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, the vessels also contain chemical traces present in two types of dried and cured tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum and N. rustica. The research team, led by anthropology postdoc Mario Zimmermann, thinks the Mexican marigold was mixed with the tobacco to make smoking more enjoyable.
The discovery of the vessels’ contents paints a clearer picture of ancient Maya drug use practices. The research, which was published today in Scientific Reports, also paves the way for future studies investigating other types of psychoactive and non-psychoactive plants that were smoked, chewed, or snuffed among the Maya and other pre-Colombian societies.
The researchers detected Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida) in residues taken from 14 miniature Maya ceramic vessels, originally buried more than 1,000 years ago on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula.
Forensic Science International (FSI)
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Itâs a ânew frontier,â anthropological archaeologist Shannon Tushingham of Washington State University, Pullman, told
Science Mag.Â
Some of the earliest recorded cannabis use dates back 2,500 years ago, when residents in western China may have inhaled the plant as part of a burial ritual.
A study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America last November revealed what researchers believe is âthe first clear evidence for the ingestion of hallucinogens at a rock art site.â
According to the researchers, Datura was used to âgain supernatural power for doctoring, to counteract negative supernatural events, to ward off ghosts and to see the future or find lost objects, but, most especially, as a mendicant for a variety of ailments.â
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Tartar, or calculus, coats the tongue-side surface of teeth from a skull that was buried for decades. Line S. Larsen
Tooth tartar could uncover the drug habits of ancient people
Jan. 7, 2021 , 3:25 PM
Want to know whether an ancient Sogdian smoked cannabis or a Viking got high on henbane? A new method, which analyzes drug residue in the tartar of teeth, may soon be able to tell. The method, which found drug traces on 19th century skeletons and more substances than standard blood tests in 10 recently deceased individuals could trace humanity’s drug habits back hundreds of thousands of years. It’s a “new frontier,” says archaeologist Shannon Tushingham of Washington State University, Pullman, who investigates ancient tobacco use in North America, but was not involved in the new work.