Seeds and hair suggest intoxicating cannabis use in ancient Siberian tomb

An international research team has linked cannabis seeds and chemical traces in human hair from a nearly 2,800-year-old Siberian tomb to possible use of the plant for intoxication. The researchers describe the findings as the oldest directly dated archaeological evidence of such use.

The tomb, in southern Siberia’s Republic of Tyva, held prominent members of the Scythian culture. Led by archaeologist Dr. Gino Caspari, affiliated with the University of Bern and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, the team recovered approximately 1,000 cannabis seeds. Radiocarbon tests on six seeds, considered alongside other dating evidence, placed their deposition in the early eighth century B.C. The study appeared in Science.

Hair from the central burial chamber provided the stronger indication of consumption. Testing detected signals consistent with cannabinol, or CBN, which can develop as THC oxidizes. THC is the main compound responsible for cannabis intoxication. Weaker signals also matched the mass of THC.

The researchers could not establish the amount consumed or how the substances entered the body. Inhaling smoke was one possibility, but the evidence did not identify a method. The seeds alone could not demonstrate intoxicating use and probably originated from wild plants.

The burial also contained evidence of extensive animal sacrifice. Previous investigations identified 18 horses positioned on the mound; subsequent excavations found evidence of several dozen additional sacrificed horses and scattered human bones. Caspari said human sacrifices most likely accompanied the burials.

Questions remain about the plants’ THC content and whether people deliberately cultivated varieties for psychoactive effects. The team has begun sequencing genetic material from the plant remains to investigate cannabis domestication and its spread.