The World’s Oldest Stash: Scientists Find 2,700-Year-Old Pot

[ensho]

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/12/08/the-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-stash-scientists-find-2700-year-old-pot/


Scientists have discovered two pounds of a dried plant that turned out to be the oldest marijuana in the world. Inside one of the Yanghai Tombs excavated in the Gobi Desert, a team of researchers found the cannabis packed into a wooden bowl resting inside a 2,700-year-old grave. It was placed near the head of a blue-eyed, 45-year-old shaman among other objects like bridles and a harp to be used in afterlife.

At first, the researchers thought the dried weed was coriander. Then they spent 10 months getting the cannabis from the tomb in China to a secret lab in England. Finally, the team put the stash through “microscopic botanical analysis” including carbon dating and genetic analysis, and discovered the stash was really pot.


The fact that the weed had a chemical known for psychoactive properties called tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, or THC, led scientists to believe the man and his community probably used it for medicinal and recreational purposes. According to professor Ethan Russo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany, someone had picked out all the parts of the plant that are less psychoactive before placing it in the grave, therefore the dead man probably didn’t grow his hemp merely to make clothes.

-snip-
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so there you have it

[derby378]

1. Also found: 2,700-year-old clay tablet titled REEFER MADNESS

Scrawled on the back: "Is this funny shit or what?" :rofl:

[KansDem]

21. Right next to a 2,700-year-old pizza box

"Supreme" (including anchovies)

[WingDinger]

2. What a BOGART. Or, maybe he died waiting for it to cure perfectly.

[MineralMan]

3. Not mentioned in the article:

Researchers further tested the stash by rolling a humongous spliff for testing. After their tests, they pronounced it to be "Righteous shit, dude!"

[tridim]

4. Dig him up, arrest his corpse and throw him in prison.

Probably what the DEA is thinking while reading this.

[salinen]

5. Sounds fishy

How'd they know he had blue eyes? Maybe red after smoking the kind. I know, I should read the article. Also, I know a great way of testing for marijuana.

[Contrary1]

23. Answer to your question found on the comments page:

6. Andy Says:
January 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
They did a DNA check on the guy and it turned out he was Caucasian…and had the markers for blue eyes. If I remember correctly, he was also a redhead.

7. Eric Says:
January 6th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Can the DNA check whether he was a Dead fan?

:rofl:

[AnArmyVeteran]

6. Did they find it in baggies? :)

[Cleita]

7. Herodotus wrote about the Scythians using pot about

that era. Since they were a nomadic tribe that inhabited the Eurasian Steppes, it seems this discovery attests to the use of Marijuana throughout Asia. I believe those caucasian mummies found in China were probably related to those tribes.

http://www.mmj-guide.com/Medical-Marijuana-History.html

Medical Marijuana History 450 B.C. - Greece

Herodotus Writes Of The Scythians Becoming Drunk From Burning Hemp Seeds

Herodotus, a Greek historian who lived in the fifth century B.C., described a conquering people known as the Scythians who burnt and inhaled the smoke of marijuana seeds as a part of a chief's burial ceremony. The Scythians, upon the death of a King, would erect small tents, crawl inside and throw hemp seeds on top of red hot rocks. Then they "howled for joy" after inhaling the vapors.

Link also presents history of the use of cannabis in the ancient world.

[RainDog]

10. he was a celt

a newspaper in GB had an article about this migration shortly after this grave was found.

[Cleita]

24. Yes he was and Celts are related to that older culture going

back to the Bronze Age and before, known as Indo-Aryans and Indo-Europeans.

[WinkyDink]

8. I believe the operative word here is "shaman."

[RainDog]

9. It took them 10 months to get this to a lab because of idiocy about drug laws

The sample was tested by a guy who tests the relative values of various cannabinoids in cannabis for medical use today.

The sample still had trichomes that are indicative of cannabis that is used/grown for its psychoactive properties - there is a long, long history of the association of cannabis and spirituality and religious practice. Wine and ergot (from which LSD is synthesized) were part of the Greek and Roman (and therefore Christian tradition) while cannabis was identified with eastern and pagan spirituality.

It's interesting that the Celts migrated to the east as well as the west - and this shaman was one of them.

[ensho]

11. interesting, thanks

nt

[sellitman]

12. i'd be more impressed if they found 2700 year old Pot Brownies

:evilgrin:

[eShirl]

13. saw this story a few years ago

[kestrel91316]

14. They pulled out the stems and seeds before putting it in his grave?

Those are true friends.

[snooper2]

15. Suprised it wasn't found in the World's oldest

sandwich baggie :rofl:

[vanbean]

16. Talk about nailing the lid on the coffin. This time the lid was in the coffin.

[Bonobo]

17. "Lid"!

Boy, you showed your age with that one!

[vanbean]

35. Well, I guess you showed yours too. LOL!

Brings back memories, eh?

[Mojorabbit]

28. I haven't heard that term in decades! :) nt

[alfredo]

18. Weed and music, a nice combination.

Also found: corn chips, salsa, and silly string.

[dtexdem]

19. See, this proves how dangerous pot is: all those users are dead!

;-)

(In honor of 'Reefer Madness.')

[asdjrocky]

20. Too bad it wasn't hash.

Much longer shelf life.

[Catshrink]

22. I swear the author of Revelations was on LSD

[Warren DeMontague]

36. Mushrooms. Actually, there's some historical evidence for it. nt

[sarge43]

25. Has to be an ancestor of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. n/t

[hvn_nbr_2]

26. How can that be the oldest pot?

The "iceman" that they found in the Alps a few years ago was 5000 years old, and he had cannabis in his pouch. According to my third grade arithmetic teacher, 5000 years old is older than 2700 years old. Or am I misunderrememberating the 5000 years old part?

[Wednesdays]

33. I thought Iceman was about 2000 years old

:shrug:

[hvn_nbr_2]

34. You made me look it up :)

Lack of confidence in my memory of that detail was why I included the disclaimer about possibly "misunderrememberating" it. But it turns out that my memory was pretty close.

It's 5300 years old. Google: iceman alps, to find lots of references.

[benld74]

27. DUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!

[Winterblues]

29. They have also found trace amounts of Cocain in some Egyptian mummies

The cocoa plant does not grow in Egypt. :shrug:

[Contrary1]

31. Well, that would certainly explain this:

[Solomon]

39. The Egyptians rode the currents to South America.

[Forkboy]

30. Cool, I've been looking all over for that bag.

[slampoet]

32. Scientists report the pot as "Not as good as the stuff we get from Phil"

Police have seized the stash giving it an estimated street value of $4.5 million dollars.

[Warren DeMontague]

37. SEE!!! I TOLD YOU KIDS THAT STUFF WILL KILL YOU!!!!!

There you have it- he smoked pot, and now he's DEAD! Happy?

[Canuckistanian]

38. Maybe it was really the "Stoned Age"

:D