SYDNEY, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists have uncovered what may be the earliest evidence of habitual drug use, dating "betel nut" use among early human foragers to as early as 25,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years before agriculture.
A team led by Australia's Griffith University archaeologists found evidence that humans were using mind-altering substances much earlier in time than previously supposed, according to a university statement released Thursday.
The team, working with Indonesian archaeologists, combined biochemical and archaeological evidence to trace the prehistoric roots of betel nut, one of the world's most popular addictive stimulants and an ancient drug used throughout much of the Asia-Pacific region.
The study, published in Science Advances, reports the discovery of extremely rare skeletal remains of two early human foragers from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, one dating to 25,000-16,000 years ago, the other to 7,600-6,300 years ago.
Both hunter-gatherers display highly unusual deep, rounded tooth grooves, a marker the researchers established was caused by a previously unknown drug-use behavior: habitual sucking of whole betel nuts, researchers said.
Biochemical analyses also detected arecoline in the foragers' dental tissues, providing strong evidence for betel nut ingestion, they said, adding that experiments showed that sucking intact betel nuts can release enough arecoline to have a physiological effect and alter brain function.
Betel nut use was previously thought to have emerged around the Neolithic or Bronze Age, about 3,500 years ago.
The findings suggest habitual psychoactive substance use existed among hunter-gatherers tens of thousands of years before farming, and betel nut-sucking may represent the earliest evidence of drug use yet recorded. ■
