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Dec. 3, 2008 -- Nearly two pounds of still-green plant material found in a 2,700-year-old grave in the Gobi Desert has just been identified as the world's oldest marijuana stash, according to a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany.
A barrage of tests proves the marijuana
possessed potent psychoactive properties and casts doubt on the theory
that the ancients only grew the plant for hemp in order to make
clothing, rope and other objects.
They apparently were getting high too.
Lead author Ethan Russo told Discovery News that the marijuana "is quite similar" to what's grown today.
"We know from both the chemical analysis and genetics that it could
produce THC (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, the main
psychoactive chemical in the plant)," he explained, adding that no one
could feel its effects today, due to decomposition over the millennia.
Russo served as a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of
Sciences Institute of Botany while conducting the study. He and his
international team analyzed the cannabis, which was excavated at the
Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, China. It was found lightly pounded in a
wooden bowl in a leather basket near the head of a blue-eyed Caucasian
man who died when he was about 45.
"This individual was buried with an unusual number of high value,
rare items," Russo said, mentioning that the objects included a make-up
bag, bridles, pots, archery equipment and a kongou harp. The
researchers believe the individual was a shaman from the Gushi people,
who spoke a now-extinct language called Tocharian that was similar to
Celtic.
Scientists originally thought the plant material in the grave was
coriander, but microscopic botanical analysis of the bowl contents,
along with genetic testing, revealed that it was cannabis.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/12/03/marijuana-stash.html
Lolzz
A barrage of tests proves the marijuana
possessed potent psychoactive properties and casts doubt on the theory
that the ancients only grew the plant for hemp in order to make
clothing, rope and other objects.
They apparently were getting high too.
Lead author Ethan Russo told Discovery News that the marijuana "is quite similar" to what's grown today.
"We know from both the chemical analysis and genetics that it could
produce THC (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, the main
psychoactive chemical in the plant)," he explained, adding that no one
could feel its effects today, due to decomposition over the millennia.
Russo served as a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of
Sciences Institute of Botany while conducting the study. He and his
international team analyzed the cannabis, which was excavated at the
Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, China. It was found lightly pounded in a
wooden bowl in a leather basket near the head of a blue-eyed Caucasian
man who died when he was about 45.
"This individual was buried with an unusual number of high value,
rare items," Russo said, mentioning that the objects included a make-up
bag, bridles, pots, archery equipment and a kongou harp. The
researchers believe the individual was a shaman from the Gushi people,
who spoke a now-extinct language called Tocharian that was similar to
Celtic.
Scientists originally thought the plant material in the grave was
coriander, but microscopic botanical analysis of the bowl contents,
along with genetic testing, revealed that it was cannabis.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/12/03/marijuana-stash.html
Lolzz
