Well-Preserved, 2,500-Year-Old Marijuana Found at Chinese Tomb

[Judi Lynn]

Well-Preserved, 2,500-Year-Old Marijuana Found at Chinese Tomb


Weed has been popular for awhile.

by Eric Grundhauser
October 05, 2016




Archaeologists in northwest China have discovered a shroud made of cannabis plants in an ancient grave, adding further evidence to the notion that even thousands of years ago, people liked to stay up.

As National Geographic is reporting, a recently unearthed burial site, dating back around 2,500 years, was found to hold a cache of (assumingly legally obtained) cannabis plants. The 13 complete plants were arrayed over the male body inside like a burial shroud, covering the corpse from crotch to chin.

The discovery occurred during excavation of the ancient Jiayi cemetery in the area of Turpan. Cannabis seeds and fragments have been previously found in other graves in the cemetery, but this is the first time that complete plants have been discovered as part of the burials, allowing the researchers to determine that it was grown locally. The graves have been attributed to members of the Subeixi culture, who are thought to have been the first permanent residents of the Turpan basin.

While the exact significance of the cannabis plants as part of the burial rituals is not yet confirmed, the dank stash is seen as further evidence that the plant was used mainly for its psychoactive properties, much as it is today.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wellpreserved-2500yearold-marijuana-found-at-chinese-tomb

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Judi Lynn]

1. Cannabis ‘burial shroud’ discovered at ancient Chinese tomb

Cannabis ‘burial shroud’ discovered at ancient Chinese tomb
October 5, 2016
by Chuck Bednar

Archaeologists working in northwestern China discovered what they call an “extraordinary cache” of “ancient, well preserved” cannabis plants serving as part of the burial shroud for a man believed to be approximately 35 years of age at his time of death.

The discovery was made by Hongen Jiang of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues and occurred at a tomb in the Jiayi cemetery of Turpan, a prefecture-level city located in the east Xinjiang region.

Writing in the journal Economic Botany, Jiang’s team reveals that the tomb features 13 cannabis plants that were nearly in perfect condition, and which appeared to have been grown specifically in the area and arranged purposefully as a burial shroud for the male corpse. The discovery, they explained, could shed new light on the plant’s ritual use in ancient Central Eurasia.

Radiocarbon dating places the age of the cannabis plants to between 2,400 and 2,800 years old, and according to National Geographic, some of them were up to three feet long. The corpse was laid out on a wooden bed with a reed pillow under his head, and the cannabis was placed across his chest diagonally, reaching from his chin to beneath his pelvis, the publication added.

More:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113416105/chinese-burial-tomb-cannabis-100516/#syrE5KtGeXEX5FEE.99