PhD student develops a new analytical technique to detect ~3500 years old ancient alkaloids.

https://www.york.ac.uk/n...-ancient-cypriot-vessel/

Rachel K. Smith, Rebecca J. Stacey, Ed Bergström, Jane Thomas-Oates. Detection of opium alkaloids in a Cypriot base-ring juglet. The Analyst, 2018; DOI: 10.1039/C8AN01040D

Very cool! I love this kind of stuff.

It's fascinating to think about exactly how ancient peoples discovered the various uses of the plants around them without a rigorous experimentation scheme (assuming they were actually using these plants to alter their physical and psychological states). Did they simply do so through trial and error, hoping that the next plant they tried did not kill them? Or did they have some more advanced ability to sense the chemical constituents and their effects on the body that has been dulled over time?

I would wager the former, as the Homo sapiens body likely has not changed significantly in just the past few thousand years. And it is easy to forget the foraging that may have been necessary in these times, which naturally lends itself to a broader level of experimentation than we conduct with our modern, grocery store-demarcated diets.

Almost begs the question: how many plant species are still out there, hidden in the wild, that would have incredible physical, mental, medical, or psychedelic effects if we tried them? How many have gone extinct without us ever knowing about them? It's a fascinating topic.

I don't know about a more advanced sense.

However, I have heard before that foraging plants and understanding their effects was a motivation to develop language and teachable knoledge. The depth of the subject is such that it would encourage specialists (e.g., you hunt and learn about animals and teach your children, I'll learn about mushrooms and teach mine, etc).

I think we see that human trait today in how specialized people can become in a certain subject. The depth of knoledge achieved by individuals can be impressive, especially for those unfamiliar with the subject.

When agriculture came along however, things were simplified. Now a short list of plants densely grown with simple techniques could sustain us. We increasingly lost access to the full spectrum of natural plants and triptamine rich brain food hallucinogens during this time. Antropologist believe that the human brain size peaked about 20,000 years ago when this transition away from plants began.

The theory seems to hold together. I think the memory of our past is reflected in ancient stories such as the expulsion from the garden of Eden and the loss of the tree of knoledge.

Today we have the pieces of the puzzle and a the technology to perhaps return to the garden of Eden one day. Or we could continue down the path of mass consumption with our backs to nature and psychedelics, while (it seems to me) irreversibly burn up our resources in an orgy of self agrandizing egos and shrinking brains.

Our choice.