Well, when did humans actually start experimenting with alcohol and drugs? Archaeology suggests that alcohol and drugs go back thousands of years, to early agrarian societies. “What the farmer doesn’t know, he doesn’t eat,” but when it comes to drinking, smoking, snorting, and swallowing, it’s a different story. In this article, you’ll learn when all the fun began and with what. And yes, we’re talking about drugs!
Humans, the most unusual creatures on Earth Humans constantly change the world. We set fields on fire, turn forests into farms, breed animals, and cultivate plants. But humans don’t just change our external world – we also change our internal world and our minds.
One way we do this is by upgrading our mental “software” with myths, religion, philosophy, and psychology. The other way is by changing our mental hardware – our brains. And we do that with chemistry.
Today, people use thousands of psychoactive substances to alter our experience of the world. Many come from plants and fungi, while others are synthetic. Some, like coffee and tea, enhance alertness. Others, like alcohol and opioids, reduce it. Psychiatric drugs influence mood, while psychedelics alter reality.
We alter brain chemistry – for various reasons – by using substances recreationally, socially, medicinally, and ritually. Wild animals sometimes consume fermented fruit, but there is little evidence that they consciously consume psychoactive plants. We are unusual animals in our enthusiasm to get drunk and high. But when, where, and why did it all begin?
Getting high on African life in the Pleistocene
A contented khat chewer is not a troublemaker… it is highly likely that the first human drug use occurred among the earliest African people. [Photo: Master1305/Shutterstock]
Given humanity’s love for drugs and alcohol, one might assume that getting high is an ancient, even prehistoric tradition. Some researchers have suggested that prehistoric cave paintings were created by people experiencing altered states of consciousness. Others, perhaps more inspired by hallucinogens than hard evidence, propose that drugs initiated the evolution of human consciousness. However, there is surprisingly little archaeological evidence of prehistoric drug use.
African hunter-gatherers – Bushmen, Pygmies, and the Hadza people – likely lived similarly to ancestral human cultures. The most compelling evidence of drug use by these early humans is a potentially hallucinogenic plant called kaishe, used by the Bushmen, which “makes people go crazy for a while.” However, the extent of drug use among the Bushmen in the past is disputed, and there is little further evidence of drug use among hunter-gatherers.
The implication is that despite the great variety of plants and fungi in Africa, early humans rarely used drugs. Perhaps they had little need for escapism due to their lifestyle. Exercise, sunlight, nature, time with friends and family – these are powerful antidepressants.
Drugs are also dangerous; just as you shouldn’t drink and drive, it is risky to get high when lions are lurking or a hostile tribe awaits in the next valley.
Leaving Africa: Humans discover cannabis and opium When humans left Africa 100,000 years ago, they explored new lands and encountered new substances. People discovered opium poppy in the Mediterranean region and cannabis and tea in Asia.
Archaeologists have found evidence of opium use in Europe around 5,700 BC. Cannabis seeds appear in archaeological excavations from 8,100 BC in Asia. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus reported that Scythians got high on cannabis in 450 BC. Tea was brewed in China in 100 BC.
It is possible that our ancestors experimented with substances before the archaeological evidence suggests. Stones and pottery preserve well, but plants and chemicals decay quickly. Perhaps the Neanderthals were the first to smoke weed.
However, archaeology suggests that the discovery and intensive use of psychoactive substances mostly occurred later, after the Neolithic Revolution around 10,000 BC, when we invented agriculture and civilization.
Below is a great overview of when humans discovered different types of “natural drugs”: [Add an infographic or table here, summarizing the information in a visually appealing way]
American psychonauts When hunters hopped over the Bering land bridge into Alaska 30,000 years ago and migrated south, they encountered a chemical cornucopia. Here, hunters discovered tobacco, coca, and mate. But for some reason, Native Americans were particularly fascinated by psychedelics.
American psychedelics include the peyote cactus, San Pedro cactus, morning glory (containing Lysergic Acid Amide or LSA), datura, salvia, anadenanthera, ayahuasca, and over 20 species of psychoactive mushrooms.
Native Americans also invented the nasal administration of tobacco and hallucinogens. They were the first to snort drugs – a practice that Europeans later adopted.
This American psychedelic culture is ancient. Peyote buttons (cut-off heads) have been dated to 4,000 BC, while Mexican mushroom statues indicate the use of psilocybe in 500 BC. A 1,000-year-old stash found in Bolivia contained cocaine, anadenanthera, and ayahuasca – it must have been an incredible trip.
The invention of alcohol A significant step in the evolution of debauchery was the invention of agriculture because it made drinks possible. It created a surplus of sugars and starches that, when mashed and left to ferment, magically transformed into potent brews.
People have independently invented alcohol many times. The oldest alcoholic beverage dates back to 7,000 BC in China. Wine was fermented in the Caucasus in 6,000 BC, and the Sumerians brewed beer in 3,000 BC. In America, the Aztecs made pulque from the same agaves used for tequila today; the Incas brewed chicha, a corn beer.
While psychedelics seem to have been particularly important in America, Eurasian and African civilizations seem to have favored alcohol. Wine was central to ancient Greek and Roman cultures; it was served at Plato’s Symposium and the Last Supper and is still part of Jewish Seder and Christian communion rituals.
Civilization and intoxication According to archaeology, alcohol and drugs date back thousands of years to early agrarian societies. However, there is little evidence that early hunter-gatherers used them. This suggests that something promoted substance use. But why?
It is possible that large civilizations simply act as the engine for all kinds of innovation: in ceramics, textiles, metals – and psychoactive substances. Perhaps alcohol and drugs also promoted civilization – drinking can help people socialize, altered perspectives enhance creativity, and caffeine makes us productive. And perhaps it’s just safer to get drunk or high in a city than on the savannah.
A darker possibility is that the use of psychoactive substances developed as a response to the ills of civilization. Large societies create significant problems –