A Discovery News slideshow, "Ancient Cannabis: Uncovering a 2,700-Year-Old Stash," relates a recent archaeological find at Yanghai Tombs in the Huoyan Shan mountains (Xinjiang, China): the remains of a tribal shaman from the Gushi culture, who was buried along with a medicine pouch, riding bridle, bows and arrows—and a wooden bowl containing cannabis.
The vegetable substance was originally thought to be coriander, but laboratory analysis by the Oxford University team determined that it was in fact cannabis. A microscopic image of the ancient cannabis shows that it has retained its green color, and red resin secretions are clearly visible. A seed sample found indicated the cannabis came from a cultivated strain, although the male plant material had been removed—leaving "little doubt as to why the cannabis was grown."
The Gushi were an Indo-European people who spoke a now-extinct language known as Tocharian, related to the Celtic family. Apparently, many ancient peoples of the Asian steppes and deserts used cannabis. In 1994, Russian archaeologists at a dig in Siberia's Altai Mountains made a similar find at the gravesite of a Scythian queen.
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Siberian mummy used medical marijuana
MRI tests conducted by scientists in Novosibirsk reveal that the Scythian queen whose mummified remains were found at Ukok, Siberia, in 1994 suffered from breast cancer—which may indicate that the cannabis found in her burial chamber was for medicinal use. (Siberian Times, Oct. 14)
Scientists track ancient spread of cannabis