People were taking drugs in Spain 3,000 years ago, study finds

According to new research, people were using hallucinogenic drugs in Spain around 3,000 years ago.

Experts claim that hair from a Menorca burial site demonstrates the use of medications by prehistoric human civilizations that were produced from plants and bushes. It is thought to be the earliest direct indication of drug use by humans in Europe.

Researchers discovered that they would have caused delirium and hallucinations. The research, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports, revealed evidence of human activity at the Es Càrritx cave on Menorca’s southwest coast.

More than 200 human tombs can be found in the cave, which is thought to have been used for religious and funerary purposes for roughly 600 years, up until 800 BCE.

The drugs, which had the potential to be highly potent, may have been utilised in rituals performed at the cave, according to researchers. Shamans “who were capable of regulating the side-effects of the plant medications” may have been involved in these.

Three psychotropic compounds were found in the locks’ analysis, which had been reddened during the ancient rites and might have been applied by more than one person.

Researchers also discovered ephedrine, which increases energy and alertness, along with the hallucinogens atropine and scopolamine.

Moreover, jugs with spiral carvings on their lids were discovered in the cave, according to researchers. According to the report, some academics have connected these carvings to a person’s “altered states of consciousness” while using hallucinogens.

Indirect evidence, such as the portrayal of narcotic plants in works of art, had previously been used to support claims of prehistoric drug use in Europe.

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