Researchers analyzing two ancient skeletons from Indonesia found dramatic dental wear and traces of arecoline, suggesting people may have sucked psychoactive areca nuts as far back as 25,000 years ago. The finding could represent the earliest known evidence of psychoactive plant use, while also shedding light on a practice that remains widespread today despite serious health risks.
We already know that plants and fungi have accompanied humanity since the dawn of time. And yes, some of them have psychotropic properties. But now we have more evidence—in fact, the oldest known to date—that people have been seeking altered states of consciousness since basically forever.
Australian researchers discovered two skeletons on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, whose teeth were not only deeply worn down but also contained traces of arecoline. This psychoactive substance is found in the areca nut, also known as betel nut.
According to the study, such extreme dental wear (so deep that it exposed the dental pulp) may have been caused by constantly sucking on the nuts, thereby releasing arecoline, their main neuroactive alkaloid. This would produce a mild high, along with a numbing effect.
At first, the deep grooves in the teeth puzzled the researchers who discovered the skeletons (one about 7,000 years old and the other between 16,000 and 25,000 years old). “What the hell were these people doing? It’s like someone had a drill head shaped like a gobstopper and wore away the inner part of the tooth,” Adam Brumm, the study’s lead researcher, commented, according to The Guardian.
“Imagine you kept a stone in your mouth and you moved it from one part of your mouth to another, and if you did that day after day, hour after hour. Eventually it would wear down your extremely hard dental tissue to form these grooves,” he explained. The team therefore proposed that these people may have been sucking on betel nuts before humans discovered that chewing them together with slaked lime enhances their effects.
So, the researchers conducted an experiment: soaking areca nuts in artificial saliva. Sure enough, this released small amounts of arecoline—enough to produce a psychoactive effect. Brumm even tried it himself: “It’s a really bitter, astringent taste. It makes your mouth go numb.”
He also suggested that this may have been precisely the desired effect, and that these pre-agricultural users may have found themselves trapped in a kind of vicious cycle: at first, sucking on betel nuts may have served as a remedy for dental pain, but daily use would damage their teeth, making the problem worse and leading them to use more to ease the pain.
Thus, the study argues, we may be looking at the earliest evidence of psychoactive substance use by humans, showing that people have been getting high since prehistoric times, if not earlier.
What Is Betel Nut, How Is It Used and Why You Shouldn’t Try It
According to the researchers, around 10% of the world’s population currently consumes this seed, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. Its use is deeply rooted in ancient traditions across several countries, specific social circles and informal markets.
To produce the desired effects, it is typically chewed after being wrapped in betel vine leaves (hence the name, even though the nut itself comes from a different plant) and mixed with slaked lime. This produces a stimulant high and increased concentration, comparable, according to some sources, to drinking several cups of coffee. In India, for instance, people from impoverished communities use betel nut to relieve hunger.
But although it may seem harmless, regular betel nut use carries serious health risks. The list is long: from cancer (especially oral and esophageal) and addiction to various disorders affecting the endocrine, cardiovascular, nervous, gastrointestinal, metabolic, respiratory and reproductive systems. It might be easier to make a list of the systems that aren’t affected by consuming this seed.
Today, some consider this a neglected global public health emergency, not only because of the extremely high rates of use and abuse and the devastating health effects associated with them, but because there is still no coordinated global policy in place to curb the problem. Still, some countries have taken independent action to restrict its use, such as Papua New Guinea and Australia, but the nut is so popular and ubiquitous that the results of these measures have been less than satisfactory.
Photo by Michael Jerrard on Unsplash
