Ancient Indonesian foragers sucked on mind-altering betel nuts as long as 25,000 years ago, according to an analysis of rare skeletal remains from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The findings, published in Science Advances, reveal dramatic tooth wear and traces of the psychoactive compound arecoline in the teeth of two pre-agricultural adults, providing what researchers describe as direct evidence of prehistoric drug consumption.
Prof Adam Brumm at Griffith University’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution in Brisbane led the team examining the skeletal remains unearthed at two different sites on Sulawesi. One skeleton dated to about 7,000 years old, while the other spanned 16,000 to 25,000 years old. Both adult skeletons featured deep, rounded grooves worn into their teeth, with some channels extending so far inward they would have exposed the dental pulp.
Researchers deduced that the unusual wear patterns stemmed from the repetitive habit of holding hard, round, and abrasive objects inside the mouth for hours on end. Brumm noted that the physical action resembled keeping a stone in the mouth and moving it continuously day after day. Chemical testing confirmed that soaking betel nuts in artificial saliva releases enough arecoline to induce a mild high, even without the slaked lime modern chewers use to intensify the effect.
Did You Know? Betel nuts are actually the seeds of the Areca catechu palm and represent the world’s fourth most widely used psychoactive substance after alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, consumed today by an estimated tenth of the global population.
Prehistoric Dental Pain and Ancient Drug Habits
The habit created a physical paradox for the ancient foragers. While the nuts likely served as a traditional remedy for toothache, the abrasive seeds eventually wore away the dental tissue so severely that they generated much worse, long-term dental pain. Brumm explained that these individuals were seemingly caught in a self-perpetuating cycle of continually sucking on the nuts to soothe the very discomfort the habit caused.
Dr Elisa Guerra-Doce, an associate professor in European prehistory at the University of Valladolid in Spain, noted that the study provides direct evidence of the antiquity of human drug use. While humans probably began using mind-altering plants as soon as they encountered them, the oldest traditions of psychoactive drug use are thought to have arisen about 13,000 years ago with fermented drinks such as barley beer.
Future Implications for Archaeological Research
Frequently Asked Questions
What are betel nuts?
Betel nuts are the seeds of the Areca catechu palm, though they are misnamed because they are frequently wrapped in betel vine leaves for consumption.
How did ancient foragers consume the nuts?
Evidence suggests ancient foragers routinely sucked on the hard, abrasive seeds before people developed the practice of mixing them with slaked lime made from ground burnt shells.
What psychoactive substance was found in the teeth?
Researchers detected traces of arecoline, the primary psychoactive compound found in betel nuts.
How might these findings reshape our understanding of early human interaction with mind-altering plants?