World's Oldest ever weed stash discovered in Chinese tomb.

[silver 2039]

Researchers find oldest-ever stash of marijuana


DEAN BEEBY
The Canadian Press
November 27, 2008 at 2:37 PM EST



Ottawa — Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.


The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly “cultivated for psychoactive purposes,” rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.


The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.


The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odour.


“To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent,” says the newly published paper, whose lead author was American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.
Remnants of cannabis have been found in ancient Egypt and other sites, and the substance has been referred to by authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus. But the tomb stash is the oldest so far that could be thoroughly tested for its properties.


The 18 researchers, most of them based in China, subjected the cannabis to a battery of tests, including carbon dating and genetic analysis. Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.


The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, but the sample was too old to determine a precise percentage.


Researchers also could not determine whether the cannabis was smoked or ingested, as there were no pipes or other clues in the tomb of the shaman, who was about 45 years old.


The large cache was contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl, and was likely meant to be used by the shaman in the afterlife.
“This materially is unequivocally cannabis, and no material has previously had this degree of analysis possible,” Dr. Russo said in an interview from Missoula, Mont.


“It was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife. No hemp or seeds were provided for fabric or food. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied.”
The tomb also contained bridles, archery equipment and a harp, confirming the man's high social standing.


Russo is a full-time consultant with GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine approved in Canada for pain linked to multiple sclerosis and cancer.


The company operates a cannabis-testing laboratory at a secret location in southern England to monitor crop quality for producing Sativex, and allowed Dr. Russo use of the facility for tests on 11 grams of the tomb cannabis.
Researchers needed about 10 months to cut red tape barring the transfer of the cannabis to England from China, Russo said.


The inter-disciplinary study was published this week by the British-based botany journal, which uses independent reviewers to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of all submitted papers.


The substance has been found in two of the 500 Gushi tombs excavated so far in northwestern China, indicating that cannabis was either restricted for use by a few individuals or was administered as a medicine to others through shamans, Russo said.


“It certainly does indicate that cannabis has been used by man for a variety of purposes for thousands of years.”


Dr. Russo, who had a neurology practice for 20 years, has previously published studies examining the history of cannabis.
“I hope we can avoid some of the political liabilities of the issue,” he said, referring to his latest paper.


The region of China where the tomb is located, Xinjiang, is considered an original source of many cannabis strains worldwide.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081127.wstash1127/BNStory/Science/home

Oh yes this is awesome.

 

[fugazi]

Ah, that surely would've been Bob Marley's holy place had he still been alive.

 

[Sui Generis]

In other news, all the weed has mysteriously disappeared, to be replaced with a couple of empty funyun bags.

 

[CaptainF]

Man, I'd love to be a Shaman. You'd never ever be sober, and your whole tribe would love you for it.

 

[plarq]

Can I take some?

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Man, I'd love to be a Shaman. You'd never ever be sober, and your whole tribe would love you for it.

Plus, you can get like 50 tortoise shells in your tomb when you go.

 

[Mirc]

Caucasian men in China so early on? I wonder if there were Asians in Europe at the time too? Just became curious from a sentence in the beginning of the article.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Well, it wasn't China at the time.

 

[plarq]

Well, it wasn't China at the time.

well, we can't say China really existed that time. Only tribes

 

[Sharwood]

Caucasian men in China so early on? I wonder if there were Asians in Europe at the time too? Just became curious from a sentence in the beginning of the article.

Caucasian people almost certainly came from Central Asia. Remember, by the old three races method, which is probably what this article refers to, Arabs and Persians actually qualify as Caucasian.

 

[Mirc]

I imagined that they would qualify as such in the article (in fact I would classify them pretty much like that myself although let's NOT derail the thread), but I was just surprised by the idea of "blue eyes" and "light hair".... Didn't blue eyes and blond hair originate somewhere around the Baltic Sea/Scandinavia?

That's quite far from China. Interesting how much one person or group must have travelled to get all the way there.

 

[Sharwood]

I imagined that they would qualify as such in the article (in fact I would classify them pretty much like that myself although let's NOT derail the thread), but I was just surprised by the idea of "blue eyes" and "light hair".... Didn't blue eyes and blond hair originate somewhere around the Baltic Sea/Scandinavia?

That's quite far from China. Interesting how much one person or group must have travelled to get all the way there.

Blonde hair and blue eyes are mutations that probably occured further West than this, likely the Ukraine, considering their wide dispersal. Remember, though rare, there are communities of blonde-haired, blue-eyed people in the Middle East, and they're not all descended from Crusaders and Napoleon''s army.

 

[Dachs]

And then there is the mystery of the Tocharians...

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Ooh, I just read a book about them a few months ago. Interesting stuff.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

That's where I left my stash I remember now...

 

[Dachs]

Ooh, I just read a book about them a few months ago. Interesting stuff.

Seriously? The most recent scholarship (ha!) on the issue that I've read is Tarn. Since I know rather less about the Yuezhi than I would like, would you mind pointing me towards a good book that can help me get caught up with the modern understanding of that decidedly confusing people?

 

[Mirc]

What's that and where can I get a link to something about that mystery of the Tocharians?



And to get back on topic: I'm actually surprised weed used in this purpose is not older... I'm sure it's a lot older than that but it just wasn't kept in an intact enough state. Seems perfectly plausible to have people far in prehistory doing that.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Seriously? The most recent scholarship (ha!) on the issue that I've read is Tarn. Since I know rather less about the Yuezhi than I would like, would you mind pointing me towards a good book that can help me get caught up with the modern understanding of that decidedly confusing people?

I don't know the level of scholarship in this book, but it was about the mummified bodies of the region. Don't remember what it was called except it had "mummy" and "China" in the title.

 

[Dachs]

I don't know the level of scholarship in this book, but it was about the mummified bodies of the region. Don't remember what it was called except it had "mummy" and "China" in the title.

The Mummies of Ürümchi, perhaps?

 

[CaptainF]

And to get back on topic: I'm actually surprised weed used in this purpose is not older... I'm sure it's a lot older than that but it just wasn't kept in an intact enough state. Seems perfectly plausible to have people far in prehistory doing that.

I know that in places like Africa they've found bonfire remains thousands of years old with cannabis remains.

That's probably how people first discovered that cannabis can get you high...by using it as bonfire fuel.

By the way, isn't anyone astonished how MUCH weed this lucky shaman was left with? 789 grams comes out to about 1.7 POUNDS.

Assuming the shaman in question smoked only the good stuff, that much weed would be worth easily about $5-6000.