Shamanic hair samples from Bronze Age show traces of hallucinogenic drug

According to earlier studies, this chamber interred approximately 210 people. Only some people had their hair colored red, put in concentric circle-decorated wooden and horn containers, and sent to a different, sealed chamber further back in the cave. These hair fibers were created about 3,000 years ago.

Several methods were used

To determine if the alkaloids atropine, scopolamine, and ephedrine were present, the scientists used Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography and High-Resolution Mass Spectroscopy.

The nightshade plant family contains atropine and scopolamine naturally, which can cause delirium, hallucinations, and altered sensory perception. Ephedrine, a stimulant that can boost excitement, alertness, and physical activity, is extracted from specific shrub and pine species. In three replicated hair samples, the authors found scopolamine, ephedrine, and atropine.

The authors hypothesize that ingestion of nightshade plants like mandrake (Mandragora autumnalis), henbane (Hyoscyamus albus), or thorn apple (Datura stramonium), as well as joint pine, may have contributed to the existence of these alkaloids (Ephedra fragilis). According to the authors, a shaman might have employed these psychotropic plants in ceremonial rituals.

The wooden containers' concentric circles, which might have represented eyeballs or been a metaphor for the inner vision associated with a drug-induced altered state of consciousness, may have represented. The authors assume that the wooden vessels were sealed in the cave chamber to preserve these ancient customs due to cultural shifts around 2,800 years ago.

The study was published in Scientific Reports on April 6.

Study abstract:

Human hair dated to Late Prehistory is exceedingly rare in the Western Mediterranean. Archaeological excavations in the Bronze Age burial and cult cave of Es Càrritx, in Menorca (Balearic Islands) provided some human hair strands involved in a singular funerary rite. This finding offered the opportunity to explore the possible use of drug plants by Late Bronze Age people. Here we show the results of the chemical analyses of a sample of such hair using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). The alkaloids ephedrine, atropine and scopolamine were detected, and their concentrations estimated. These results confirm the use of different alkaloid-bearing plants by local communities of this Western Mediterranean island by the beginning of the first millennium cal BCE.