Oldest Marijuana Stash Found
September 7, 2010 10:28 AM Subscribe
A conversation in the Gobi Desert 2700 years ago: "What is that hole in the ground?"
"It's called a grave. You put your weed in there."
Archaeologists uncovered a 2700 year old grave in the Gobi Desert that contained about 2 pounds of marijuana in it. See the slide show.
Archaeologists uncovered a 2700 year old grave in the Gobi Desert that contained about 2 pounds of marijuana in it. See the slide show.
This post was deleted for the following reason: dude, previously -- jessamyn
I'll bet nachos are much older than historians think, too.
posted by palacewalls at 10:35 AM on September 7, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by palacewalls at 10:35 AM on September 7, 2010 [7 favorites]
And if you are marijuana, you put your human in there.
posted by swift at 10:36 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by swift at 10:36 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
this is very old news:
http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.4.iv.htmlthese ancient pot-smoking hippies of eurasia had some other charming customs:
Such, then, is the mode in which the kings are buried: as for the people, when any one dies, his nearest of kin lay him upon a waggon and take him round to all his friends in succession: each receives them in turn and entertains them with a banquet, whereat the dead man is served with a portion of all that is set before the others; this is done for forty days, at the end of which time the burial takes place. After the burial, those engaged in it have to purify themselves, which they do in the following way. First they well soap and wash their heads; then, in order to cleanse their bodies, they act as follows: they make a booth by fixing in the ground three sticks inclined towards one another, and stretching around them woollen felts, which they arrange so as to fit as close as possible: inside the booth a dish is placed upon the ground, into which they put a number of red-hot stones, and then add some hemp-seed.
Hemp grows in Scythia: it is very like flax; only that it is a much coarser and taller plant: some grows wild about the country, some is produced by cultivation: the Thracians make garments of it which closely resemble linen; so much so, indeed, that if a person has never seen hemp he is sure to think they are linen, and if he has, unless he is very experienced in such matters, he will not know of which material they are.
The Scythians, as I said, take some of this hemp-seed, and, creeping under the felt coverings, throw it upon the red-hot stones; immediately it smokes, and gives out such a vapour as no Grecian vapour-bath can exceed; the Scyths, delighted, shout for joy, and this vapour serves them instead of a water-bath; for they never by any chance wash their bodies with water.
In what concerns war, their customs are the following. The Scythian soldier drinks the blood of the first man he overthrows in battle. Whatever number he slays, he cuts off all their heads, and carries them to the king; since he is thus entitled to a share of the booty, whereto he forfeits all claim if he does not produce a head. In order to strip the skull of its covering, he makes a cut round the head above the ears, and, laying hold of the scalp, shakes the skull out; then with the rib of an ox he scrapes the scalp clean of flesh, and softening it by rubbing between the hands, uses it thenceforth as a napkin. The Scyth is proud of these scalps, and hangs them from his bridle-rein; the greater the number of such napkins that a man can show, the more highly is he esteemed among them. Many make themselves cloaks, like the capotes of our peasants, by sewing a quantity of these scalps together. Others flay the right arms of their dead enemies, and make of the skin, which stripped off with the nails hanging to it, a covering for their quivers. Now the skin of a man is thick and glossy, and would in whiteness surpass almost all other hides. Some even flay the entire body of their enemy, and stretching it upon a frame carry it about with them wherever they ride. Such are the Scythian customs with respect to scalps and skins.posted by ennui.bz at 10:38 AM on September 7, 2010 [8 favorites]
... though the researchers point out no one could feel its effects today, due to decomposition over the millenia.
There goes that idea.
posted by chaff at 10:39 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
There goes that idea.
posted by chaff at 10:39 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
世界上最古老的两倍。
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:40 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:40 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's called a grave.
Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Apologies; reflex.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:42 AM on September 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Apologies; reflex.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:42 AM on September 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
Dude, where's my chariot?
posted by SpaceBass at 10:44 AM on September 7, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by SpaceBass at 10:44 AM on September 7, 2010 [7 favorites]
So THAT explains why there was so little progress after this...
posted by LURK at 10:47 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by LURK at 10:47 AM on September 7, 2010
The Scythian soldier drinks the blood of the first man he overthrows in battle. Whatever number he slays, he cuts off all their heads, and carries them to the king; since he is thus entitled to a share of the booty, whereto he forfeits all claim if he does not produce a head
Huh, I thought the Scythians were practitioners of the Parthian shot (you know, like the Parthians). That would make it hard to cut heads off.
posted by kenko at 10:52 AM on September 7, 2010
Huh, I thought the Scythians were practitioners of the Parthian shot (you know, like the Parthians). That would make it hard to cut heads off.
posted by kenko at 10:52 AM on September 7, 2010
he scrapes the scalp clean of flesh, and softening it by rubbing between the hands, uses it thenceforth as a napkin.
Clearly, the Scythians were in desperate need of absorbent fabrics. That's a pretty bad choice for a napkin.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:04 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Clearly, the Scythians were in desperate need of absorbent fabrics. That's a pretty bad choice for a napkin.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:04 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Out of curiosity and apropos of very little- can anyone tell me know they knew the man's eyes were blue? DNA testing, or something else?
posted by JMOZ at 11:05 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by JMOZ at 11:05 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
He was, like, holding it for a friend.
posted by brain_drain at 11:06 AM on September 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by brain_drain at 11:06 AM on September 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
Out of curiosity and apropos of very little- can anyone tell me know they knew the man's eyes were blue? DNA testing, or something else?
This article notes that the man "would have been a member of the somewhat curious Cheshi clan, a group of nomadic people of Indo-European origins who inhabited the region." Oddly, I only found mention of a "Cheshi clan" in variations of this article. As for eye color, this email on mummy reconstruction notes that "skin and eye color will always be an inference."
posted by filthy light thief at 11:35 AM on September 7, 2010
This article notes that the man "would have been a member of the somewhat curious Cheshi clan, a group of nomadic people of Indo-European origins who inhabited the region." Oddly, I only found mention of a "Cheshi clan" in variations of this article. As for eye color, this email on mummy reconstruction notes that "skin and eye color will always be an inference."
posted by filthy light thief at 11:35 AM on September 7, 2010
花花公子
I am pretty sure that says FLOWER POWER! FREE LOVE!
Hm, I guess that would be more like 花力公好！
(Yes I know that is nonsense, but that is what 花花公子 meant to me at first gloss...)
posted by whatzit at 11:42 AM on September 7, 2010
I am pretty sure that says FLOWER POWER! FREE LOVE!
Hm, I guess that would be more like 花力公好！
(Yes I know that is nonsense, but that is what 花花公子 meant to me at first gloss...)
posted by whatzit at 11:42 AM on September 7, 2010
Well, that's just plain mean of them. He probably died of a marijuana overdose.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:43 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:43 AM on September 7, 2010
Also, I like how they say in the article that it's "quite similar" to the stuff grown today. So much for the DEA's claim that today's weed "isn't your grandfather's pot."
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:45 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:45 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Now...you gotta think...way out there in the middle of nowhere...a small camp of geeks...a two-pound stash of ancient weed. You know there was more in that stash when they found it.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:47 AM on September 7, 2010
posted by Thorzdad at 11:47 AM on September 7, 2010
... though the researchers point out no one could feel its effects today, due to decomposition over the millenia.
Plant the seed...
posted by bosun_bones at 11:50 AM on September 7, 2010
Plant the seed...
posted by bosun_bones at 11:50 AM on September 7, 2010
I am pretty sure that says FLOWER POWER! FREE LOVE!
It's what Google Translate said was the translation for "dude." I have no idea what it really says.
Nor do I care. Because I'm really hungry. You got any, like, Doritos or Funyuns or something?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:52 AM on September 7, 2010
It's what Google Translate said was the translation for "dude." I have no idea what it really says.
Nor do I care. Because I'm really hungry. You got any, like, Doritos or Funyuns or something?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:52 AM on September 7, 2010
he scrapes the scalp clean of flesh, and softening it by rubbing between the hands, uses it thenceforth as a napkin.
Clearly, the Scythians were in desperate need of absorbent fabrics. That's a pretty bad choice for a napkin.
This does sort of explain what a guy with an axe has to do with paper towels.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:03 PM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Clearly, the Scythians were in desperate need of absorbent fabrics. That's a pretty bad choice for a napkin.
This does sort of explain what a guy with an axe has to do with paper towels.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:03 PM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's what Google Translate said was the translation for "dude." I have no idea what it really says.
Not that you care, but it means something like "Casanova".
posted by Anderson_Localized at 12:24 PM on September 7, 2010
Not that you care, but it means something like "Casanova".
posted by Anderson_Localized at 12:24 PM on September 7, 2010
The characters literally mean something like "flower, flower, fair/public, son/seed". I believe it translates roughly as "playboy". I'm pretty sure this is how Hefner's brand is written in Hanzi, but I could be wrong on this one.
posted by [citation needed] at 12:56 PM on September 7, 2010
posted by [citation needed] at 12:56 PM on September 7, 2010
Also, I like how they say in the article that it's "quite similar" to the stuff grown today. So much for the DEA's claim that today's weed "isn't your grandfather's pot."
You would have to smoke six joints in 700 B.C. to get the same effect as one joint in 2010!
posted by ND¢ at 1:27 PM on September 7, 2010
You would have to smoke six joints in 700 B.C. to get the same effect as one joint in 2010!
posted by ND¢ at 1:27 PM on September 7, 2010
Dave's not here, man.
posted by mosk at 4:22 PM on September 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by mosk at 4:22 PM on September 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
more like: "shit, you left your pipe at your yurt? I'm out of rolling paper."
"its ok, we can totally figure this out. You got an apple?"
"no."
"coke can?"
"hasn't been invented yet."
"burial mound?"
"yeah!"
"ok we can do this. Get me a shovel, a stirrup, and a yak bladder."
posted by condour75 at 9:09 PM on September 7, 2010
"its ok, we can totally figure this out. You got an apple?"
"no."
"coke can?"
"hasn't been invented yet."
"burial mound?"
"yeah!"
"ok we can do this. Get me a shovel, a stirrup, and a yak bladder."
posted by condour75 at 9:09 PM on September 7, 2010
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No wait.
花花公子。
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:32 AM on September 7, 2010 [3 favorites]