{
  "id": 18355003,
  "title": "Oldest Evidence of Human Cannabis Use Has a Ghoulish Twist",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/oldest-evidence-of-human-cannabis-use-has-a-ghoulish-twist",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-05T19:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Nautilus",
    "slug": "nautilus",
    "url": "https://nautil.us/oldest-evidence-of-human-cannabis-use-has-a-ghoulish-twist-1286377/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A group of archaeologists has uncovered the oldest evidence of human cannabis use, with a surprising twist. The discovery was made at a Scythian burial mound in southern Siberia where over 1,400 cannabis seeds were found among deteriorating log coffins. The remains, dated to around the first decade of the 8th century BCE, suggest the Scythians used cannabis in their funeral rites. The team, led by anthropologists from the Max Planck Institute, also discovered human hair with traces of THC and cannabinol - a breakdown product of THC. This pushes back the earliest known cannabis use by three centuries, and it's the first case where both the plant product and its biomolecular traces were found together in an archaeological context. The researchers believe the spectral cavalcade of sacrificed horses was part of a human sacrifice ritual, with the cannabis possibly used to calm the individuals being ritually included in the ceremonies.",
  "summary": "Take a ride with the spectral cavalcade The post Oldest Evidence of Human Cannabis Use Has a Ghoulish Twist appeared first on Nautilus .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}