Ancient Indonesians used betel nut to alter minds 25,000 years ago
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Archaeologists in Indonesia discovered evidence that people chewed betel nut, a stimulant, as early as 25,000 years ago. Researchers examined teeth from two individuals found on the island of Sulawesi and noticed deep grooves worn into them, suggesting years of holding a hard object in their mouths.
They determined the object was likely a betel nut, and detected traces of arecoline, its psychoactive compound, within the teeth.
Laboratory tests showed that simply holding the nut in the mouth released enough arecoline to affect neural receptors. The older individual, dating from 25,000 to 16,000 years ago, showed severe wear on all remaining molars. The more recent individual, from 7,600 to 6,300 years ago, had similar grooves on multiple teeth. Researchers believe people may have used the nut to relieve tooth pain, even though it also damaged their teeth over time, potentially leading to dependence.
This discovery pushes back the earliest known evidence of human drug use by at least 12,000 years, predating previous findings of a fermented cereal drink in Israel around 13,000 years ago. While betel nut is now known to be a carcinogen, these early users likely consumed the nuts without the additives used in modern betel quid.
