The Legacy of Ancient Trippers Stripped from Teeth

According to a 2019 paper titled  Toxicology in Antiquity (Second Edition) , almost all of the Mystery Religions and cults of the ancient world “frequently, if not always, employed the use of psychoactive drugs or entheogens to induce altered states of consciousness.” An example was presented in a  National Geographic  when a pouch of ancient  ayahuasca, a strong plant derived hallucinogen, was discovered “in 1,000-year-old shamanic pouch in South America”. However, exactly how high our psychonautic forebears got has always been a matter of speculation. Until now. A new method uniting modern drug testing applications with the drug residues found trapped in the tartar of ancient teeth is promising to reveal exactly what types of “magically medical” plants were consumed in past times by ancient  trippers.

Ayahuasca is just one “magically medicinal” plant which was consumed by ancient trippers. The new study has found that by analysis of ancient teeth, researchers can discover what kind of drugs were consumed. (artinlumine / Adobe Stock)

Ayahuasca is just one “magically medicinal” plant which was consumed by ancient trippers. The new study has found that by analysis of ancient teeth, researchers can discover what kind of drugs were consumed. ( artinlumine / Adobe Stock)

Reconstructing Drug Testing Sciences 

This new development in drug testing emerged after archaeologist Bjørn Peare Bartholdy, a doctoral student at  Leiden University,  in the Netherlands, suspected 19th century Dutch farmers, who he knew lived in a village without doctors, might have “been self-medicating to manage pain and disease.” Working with his supervisor, Professor Amanda Henry, Bartholdy developed the new testing technique by testing  tooth calculus , the hardened  plaque known as tartar, from ten 19th century farmers’ skeletons. The results, according to a report on  Science Direct , showed a wider range of chemical substances were consumed than is observed in recently deceased individuals.

The two researchers say the conclusions of most scientists in this field are flawed because they focus only on the traces of plants and psychoactive molecules gathered from the insides of pipes and drinking vessels. However, substances like hallucinogenic (magic) mushrooms were often picked, dried and consumed without using storage containers or pipes. The only data about this type of  drug consumption is trapped in tooth tartar, says Bartholdy, which can survive for longer than a million years  trapped in fossils .

The researchers have found that ancient teeth hold answers about drug use by ancient trippers, such as consumption of magic mushrooms. (Jeremy / Adobe Stock)

The researchers have found that ancient teeth hold answers about drug use by ancient trippers, such as consumption of magic mushrooms. ( Jeremy / Adobe Stock)

Charting Ancient Hallucinogenic Genetic Landscapes 

Suspecting ancient teeth might hold genetic maps leading to answers about  drug use in the old world , the researchers met a virtual wall in their research project. Until now, science hadn’t developed a way to test tooth calculus specifically for opiates, cannabis, and  magic mushrooms : the substances that they suspected the 19th century Dutch farmers had been consuming. The two researchers contacted renowned forensic dentist, Dr. Dorthe Bindslev, from  Aarhus University  in Denmark, enquiring if traditional drug testing methods for blood and hair might be adapted to serve a new archaeological purpose.

Their experimentation required mixing hydroxyapatite, the most prevalent mineral in tartar, with 67  drugs and drug metabolites including the legal stimulants caffeine, nicotine, and cannabidiol, and the controlled substances oxycodone, cocaine and heroin. The drug-fused tartar mixtures were scanned by a mass spectrometer which identified various molecules by their atomic weight and charge. A new paper published in  Forensic Science International  details how the cadavers of ten suspected  drug users were tested with the new method. According to  Science, it identified “44 drugs and metabolites” which is more than standard medical blood testing. The  drugsincluded heroin, a heroin metabolite, and cocaine. 

Tripping Backwards in Time

Does this mean that researchers can now test any ancient skull to reveal a detailed map of their drug use? Well, maybe, as it currently remains unclear just how long tartar/calculus retains plant drug signatures. It’s also important to note that researchers cannot assume that all the of plant molecules discovered on teeth, that came from hallucinogenic plants, were used for tripping in recreational for religious applications. Ancient cultures lived on a greatly plant based diet and all over the world mushrooms were consumed for their medicinal and dietary properties.

Having refined their new calculus drug testing method, the pair of researchers now plan to push back into time, way beyond their 19th century Dutch test subjects, to discover more ancient trippers. Their sights are now set on the skeletons of  Viking warriors , who were known to have eaten “magically medicinal”  mushrooms before fighting and during agri-rituals.

Top image: New study will help us understand more about ancient trippers by testing ancient teeth. Source: Line S. Larsen /  Science

By Ashley Cowie

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