Archaeologists Find Evidence of Hallucinogenic Drug in Ancient Rome
about 3 months ago (02/11/2024)
Archaeologists Find Evidence of Hallucinogenic Drug in Ancient Rome Skip to content A bust of Emperor Trajan surrounded by black henbane seends and flowers and a femur discovered by archaeologists (edit Valentina Di Liscia/ Hyperallergic ) Two new archaeological finds suggest Roman subjects at the northern edge of the ancient empire used a hallucinogenic and poisonous plant called black henbane, the effects of which were described by Greek philosopher Plutarch as “not so properly called drunkenness” but rather “alienation of mind or madness.” Dutch zooarchaeologists Maaike Groot and Martijn van Haasteren and archaeobotanist Laura I. Kooistra published their research on February 8 in the academic journal Antiquity . The scholars made the discoveries at the Houten-Castellum archaeological site in the Netherlands, which was inhabited from the 6th century BCE through the 2nd century CE, when it was under Roman rule. The findings comprise a 90–110 CE basket or fish trap buried face-down with the plant and a polished and hollowed sheep or goat femur containing around 1,000 black henbane seeds, sealed with a birch-bark tar plug.