Cannabis in Ancient Funerary Rituals

Biomolecular tests from a Scythian burial mound (Tunnug 1, ~8th century BCE) found cannabis seeds and cannabinoid breakdown products in human hair, suggesting cannabis was used as part of funerary rites and possibly to sedate sacrificial victims. This is the earliest co-located chemical and botanical evidence of cannabis use and links psychoactive plant use directly to ritualized violence in the archeological record. — It revises timelines for human use of psychoactive plants and raises questions about the role of pharmacology in ancient ritual and violence, informing debates in anthropology, history, and bioarchaeology about the origins of drug use and ritual technology.