Neanderthals liked to unwind after a hard day’s work hunter gathering by consuming psychoactive drugs, a new study has found.
A discovery of human hair strands at a burial site in Menorca, Spain has given us evidence of drug use in prehistoric times.
Research was put forward in a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, and they shine new light on drug use throughout history.
The findings uncovered a number of different alkaloid substances which came from nightshade plants.
They contain scopolamine and atropine which can cause hallucinations and out-of-body experiences, while ephedrine is a stimulant.
The cave also contained boxes patterned with psychedelic decorations, which could well have been decorated while neanderthals were under the influence.
Elisa Guerra-Doce is an associate professor of Prehistory at the University of Valladolid and lead author of the study.
Guerra-Doce told The New York Times: "These findings are so singular.
"Sometimes when people think about drugs, they think it's a modern practice. These results tell a different story."
Ethnobotanist Giorgio Samorini, who wasn’t involved in the study, also told the publication: "This was not a profane purpose of 'searching for a high' but more generally the search for existential meaning that has been largely lost to time.”
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