Direct evidence of the use of multiple drugs in Bronze Age Menorca (Western Mediterranean) from human hair analysis.

Human hair dated to Late Prehistory is exceedingly rare in the Western Mediterranean. Archaeological excavations in the Bronze Age burial and cult cave of Es Càrritx, in Menorca (Balearic Islands) provided some human hair strands involved in a singular funerary rite. This finding offered the opportunity to explore the possible use of drug plants by Late Bronze Age people. Here we show the results of the chemical analyses of a sample of such hair using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). The alkaloids ephedrine, atropine and scopolamine were detected, and their concentrations estimated. These results confirm the use of different alkaloid-bearing plants by local communities of this Western Mediterranean island by the beginning of the first millennium cal BCE.

Evidencias del consumo de drogas en Europa durante la Prehistoria / Evidence for drug-taking in Prehistoric Europe

Objetivo. Se estudia el consumo de drogas en la Prehistoria. Las primeras referencias escritas en este sentido se remontan al III milenio a.C., lo que implica un largo proceso de familiarización progresiva con estas sustancias que posiblemente se habría iniciado en la Prehistoria. Métodos. Para apoyar nuestra hipótesis nos vamos a servir de referencias a drogas vegetales en los textos de los autores grecolatinos y de evidencias arqueológicas. Entre estas últimas cabe destacar la recuperación de macrorrestos de vegetales psicoactivos en yacimientos prehistóricos, la presencia de alcaloides y metabolitos de drogas en diversos utensilios y restos esqueléticos, respectivamente, y las representaciones artísticas de plantas con estas propiedades. Resultados. Se ha podido documentar la presencia de vegetales con propiedades psicoactivas (efedra, adormidera, marihuana, miembros de las Solanaceae, cornezuelo de centeno, etc.) en varios yacimientos prehistóricos de Europa. No obstante, este hecho no siempre implica su empleo como drogas. Conclusiones. El consumo de drogas en Europa se inició en la Prehistoria, empleándose estas sustancias en la celebración de rituales y prácticas medicinales

Objective. The antiquity of drug-consumption in Europe is considered here. The oldest references implying this habit date back to the 3rd Millennium BC suggesting earlier beginnings, perhaps in Prehistoric times. Methods. References to drug plants among the Classical writers, and archaeological evidence are examined to support this hypothesis. Among the latter, we note the retrieval of macrofossil remains of psychoactive plants, the presence of drug alkaloids in utensils and metabolites in skeletal remains, and artistic depictions of plant species with these properties. Results. Diverse psychoactive plants (Ephedra spp, opium poppy, hemp, ergot, some members of the Solanaceae) have been recovered in prehistoric sites of Europe. This does not imply, however, the exploitation of the psychoactive properties of these species in all cases. Conclusions. Drug-taking is a long-established habit whose origin can be traced back to Prehistory. In those times, drugs were consumed both in ritual ceremonies and medical treatments