25,000 years ago one of the most popular drugs in the world was already being consumed
A study published in 'Science Advances' demonstrates that areca nuts were already being chewed in Indonesia during the Pleistocene
BarcelonaThe modern habit of chewing areca nut is practiced by approximately one in ten people worldwide. It is usually chewed with betel leaf and other ingredients such as calcium hydroxide, some spices, and tobacco, and it leaves the mouth a deep red color. It resembles nutmeg in shape and color, but it has a very different taste, slightly bitter and intense. It is a drug used primarily in tropical Asia and the Pacific, and it is considered the fourth most popular psychoactive substance on the planet, only behind alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine. Deeply rooted in some cultures, its history has a much older origin than previously thought.
It is no secret that humans are consumers of all kinds of substances that alter brain chemistry, but until now little was known about when and how narcotics, stimulants, or hallucinogens began to be used. Archaeological records had provided evidence of barley beer consumption about 13,000 years ago in Israel; of the San Pedro cactus and the mescal bean in Peru and Texas about 10,000 years ago; of coca 8,000 years ago in Peru, or of hallucinogenic mushrooms about 8,000 years ago in the Sahara. It had often been theorized that this knowledge came from trial and error or from observing animals, as well as from the emergence of the first sedentary agricultural societies during the Neolithic Revolution. Now, a study led by researcher Adam Brumm's team and published in the journal Science Advances turns back the clock on the history of drugs to the late Pleistocene.
The clue to tracing back the consumption of this drug was provided by the remains of two hunters on the island of Sulawesi (Indonesia). One of them died between 25,000 and 16,000 years ago. The second dates back to between 7,600 and 6,300 years ago. Both died when they were quite old, had extremely poor oral health, and a peculiarity: tooth wear caused by repeatedly chewing a hard, spherical object between 10 and 20 millimeters in size. Brumm's team argues that it is a mark produced by chewing areca nut.
The skeletons with shattered teeth
"The main novelty is the integration of two lines of evidence: the visible marks left on the teeth and their biochemical analysis, to propose the hypothesis that the chewing of areca nuts, a practice still widespread in Southeast Asia, had a medicinal or recreational use. If the proposal of this study is confirmed, the evidence presented would place the consumption of areca nuts in Southeast Asia several thousand years earlier," assures Marian Berihuete Azorín, Ramón y Cajal researcher in the Department of Prehistory at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Until now, it was believed that the plant's main neuroactive alkaloid, arecoline, was only released when chewing the nut processed and mixed with calcium hydroxide. However, laboratory experiments driven by the researchers have shown that the simple act of keeping the nut intact in the mouth for prolonged periods releases arecoline in sufficient quantities to produce physiological effects, including excessive salivation. The biomolecular analysis of the ancient teeth has confirmed the presence of arecoline, as well as compounds from the leaf of Piper betle, which they could have used as a flavoring. Conversely, the absence of certain lime derivatives and the typical red discoloration rules out that they were chewing the modern mixture.
Trapped in a vicious circle
Given that the seed has no nutritional value and that the practice caused serious dental lesions and chronic infections to the point of exposing the tooth pulp, scientists suggest that the primary motivation must have been physical dependence or therapeutic use. Arecoline has analgesic properties and stimulates the production of saliva and amylase, which could help digest rich foods and alleviate pain. However, hunter-gatherers could have found themselves trapped in a vicious cycle: they sucked to soothe the pain and fueled an addiction that, in turn, worsened their oral health.
Elisa Guerra, tenured professor of prehistory at the University of Valladolid, stresses that the results are not only the oldest evidence of the use of psychoactive plants recorded in the world, but also demonstrate that it is a millennial tradition: "It dates back to prehistory long before the implementation of the production economy".
