Plants with narcotic effect found in a settlement from 7,500 years ago in Italy

In an investigation, an interdisciplinary analysis has been made of parts of agricultural tools, specifically three sickle handles, which were found in the archaeological site of La Marmotta (Italy), one of the best preserved early Neolithic settlements in Europe. In the study, several species of plants have been identified that can have a psychoactive effect and a therapeutic and narcotic use.

Specialists from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in Spain have participated in the investigation.

“We have developed a global and interdisciplinary analysis of three of the best preserved sickles, not only from La Marmotta, but also from archeology in general. In the study we have identified the plant species selected for the elaboration of the handles, the compound used to produce the glue with which to join the flint teeth, the shape of these teeth and the use that was made of these sickles”, explains Juan F. Gibaja, CSIC researcher at the Spanish School of History and Archeology in Rome.

The information obtained from pollen and phytoliths (plant biomineralization) is unique in archaeology. The researchers have been able to analyze several instruments that reflect the work carried out in a cereal field that is more than 7,500 years old. “Archaeologists excavate villages, workshops, tombs and, if any, buildings with a political or cult function. However, they almost never manage to identify what the ancient crops were like. That is why the information present in these sickles was so important and innovative”, says Gibaja.

The researchers have been able to identify the materials of the three handles, as well as the glue that was used. In addition, they have determined that the teeth of the sickles were made with varieties of flint from the Apennines and the Gargano mines, which are several hundred kilometers away from where the settlement is located.

The underwater deposits better preserve the archaeological remains. (Photo: Juan F. Gibaja)

The study also included the marks left on the handles, which confirmed that the sickles were used to cut domestic cereals, specifically, according to microscopic analysis, for harvesting barley and wheat and for removing weeds from crop fields.

Among the pollen grains found, the researchers were surprised to find plants of the genus Oenathe. “These are aquatic species, very widespread in the lacustrine environment of Bracciano, where the settlement is located. These species, when eaten fresh and in small quantities, can cause intoxication”, explains Niccolò Mazzucco, a researcher at the University of Pisa. Although the researchers point out that this pollen could have arrived after the sickles ceased to be used, they do not rule out the possibility that these tools were also used to collect plants for therapeutic or narcotic use. “La Marmotta is the oldest site in Europe with remains of domestic opium, so the presence of species with a psychoactive effect is not something strange,” adds Mario Mineo, a researcher at the Museum of Roman Civilization in Rome.

The study is titled “Multiproxy study of 7500-year-old wooden sickles from the Lakeshore Village of La Marmotta, Italy.” And it has been published in the academic journal Scientific Reports. (Source: Esther M. García Pastor / CSIC)