25,000-year-old Sulawesi foragers show earliest evidence of mind-altering betel-nut use
TL;DR Summary
Analysis of two ancient Sulawesi skeletons reveals deep tooth grooves and traces of arecoline, suggesting early foragers regularly sucked on abrasive betel nuts to get high—potentially the oldest evidence of psychoactive drug use, though the habit damaged their teeth and may have started as a remedy for tooth pain.
- Indonesian foragers may have sucked on mind-altering nuts 25,000 years ago, research finds The Guardian
- Drug use may have begun 25,000 years ago, new research finds BBC
- Scientists Discover the Earliest Evidence of Drug Use in Really Old Teeth The New York Times
- Humans experimented with drugs 23,000 years earlier than we thought Popular Science
- Ice Age origins of one of humanity's oldest drug habits discovered Phys.org
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