Fake hair: 3000 years ago drugs were already being used in Europe, and the proof of this is in Spain.

A lock of hair almost 3,000 years ago was enough to provide the first direct evidence of use in Europe drugs. Hair was part of a funeral ritual and was hidden in a cave in Es Carritx (Spanish island of Menorca) at a time when Bronze Age society was changing.

Atropine, scopolamine and ephedrine from plants are hallucinogenic substances discovered in this castle by a group of Spanish and Chilean researchers.

A study by Elisa Guerra of the Spanish University of Valladolid and published today in Scientific Reports indicates that these drugs they may have been used as part of ritual ceremonies.

In 1995, in Es Carritx (western Menorca), a chamber used as a burial was discovered, in which were found small cylindrical wooden containers with hair, which are about 2900 years old.

The study revealed the oldest direct evidence of drug use. drugs V Europein the Late Bronze Age, one of the study’s signatories, Cristina Rihuete of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​explains to EFE.

IN Europe there was circumstantial evidence, such as the discovery of opium alkaloids in containers, or the remains of narcotic plants in ritual contexts. The oldest direct evidence in the world is about 3000 years old in Chile.

The study used only one lock of hair of the available some up to 13 centimeters. He notes that it is “completely unusual” to find preserved hair from that time in the western Mediterranean.

Analysis using ultra high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy revealed the presence of atropine, scopolamine and ephedrine, alkaloids that remain fixed in the hair and that may respond to consumption of plants such as mandrake, henbane or datura, the researcher points out.

Atropine and scopolamine occur naturally in the nightshade family and can cause delusions and hallucinations; ephedrine is a stimulant derived from certain types of shrubs and pines.

The team does not believe these substances were used for pain relief, although “there is a very fine line as to the extent to which something can be used for medical, magical, or divinatory purposes,” notes Riuete.

The presence of scopolamine and atropine together are sedatives, but their manipulation is very risky because of their high toxicity, which, Riuete points out, makes one think more about the consumption of hallucinogens than about therapeutic purposes.

Hair growth leaves a record of certain substances, and “the surprise is that it was possible to demonstrate that the use took place over a period of at least a year,” but there is no indication of how it was taken.

Es Carritx Cave It also tells the story of late Bronze Age settlers in Menorca, “very interesting” societies, densely populated, who knew how to live peacefully and in which grazing was essential, the researcher says.

In one of his chambers, a funeral ritual was performed during which the hair was dyed red, combed and cut to place in cylindrical wooden tubes with lids. Previous research indicates that about 210 people were buried, but only a few underwent the practice.

“Probably,” he believes, “they were certain people from the latest chronology of the necropolis, who may have possessed those attributes of shamanic divination that drug use is associated with.”

Six of these pipes were hidden in a hole dug and sealed in a remote part of the cave to help preserve the hair, along with horn containers, spatulas, vases, a wooden comb, and some bronze objects.

The researcher points out that some exhibits, along with other materials from the cave, began to be exhibited at the Municipal Museum of Can Saura in Ciutadella (Menorca).

The small box, as Rihuete calls them, chosen for the examination, consists of three olivewood tubes made from the base of a tree trunk, to which they added a lid, which, “to make it fit, is a work of art.” Extraordinary carpentry, taking into account the tools of that time.

The researcher draws attention to the lids decorated with concentric circles, already seen in other cultures, which may have a drug-related interpretation.

These drawings “have been interpreted many times as a symbol of pupillary dilation associated with the ingestion of substances that open the eyes, reveal inner knowing,” he notes.

Creating a cache to store items related to this funeral ritual may be a way to preserve ancient traditions in the face of cultural changes that occurred around 2,800 years ago.

At that time, says Rihuete, the world was ending, cave burials ceased, and “the emphasis on cemeteries and centuries-old rituals ceased to emphasize civilian life. It’s a brutal transition from death to life.” EFE