Researchers fromWashington State University ( WSU ) have detected the presence of marigold ( Tagetes lucida),a non - tobacco plant substance thought to have some medicinal properties , in ancient Maya drug containers that are more than 1,000 years old . This is the first time scientist have key out a non - tobacco plant in ancient Maya drug containers , and the researchers intimate it may have been used to make tobacco plant smoking " more enjoyable " .
The discovery of the accomplished drug containers , 14 small Maya ceramic vessels that also contained traces of two other substances , dried and cured tobacco from theNicotiana tabacumandN. rusticaplants , was made in Mexico ’s Yucatán peninsula . publish in the journalScientific Reports , the findings serve us further understand ancient Maya drug role practices .
" When you find something really interesting like an intact container it have you a sentience of delight , " said lead study generator , Mario Zimmermann in apress release . " unremarkably , you are lucky if you find a jade bead . There are literally tons of pottery sherds but unadulterated vessels are scarce and propose a lot of interesting research potential . "
Previously , identification of plant substances in Maya artifacts has been specify due to only induce a couple of biomarkers to detect substances usable , such as caffeine and nicotine . However , the newmetabolomics - found analytic thinking develop by WSUcan now detect thousands of metabolite ( plant compound ) from different substances in remainder accumulate from various archaeological artifact , like pots and container , opening up the chance to identify raw plant substances .
" While it has been established that tobacco was normally used throughout the Americas before and after liaison , grounds of other plant used for medicative or religious role has persist largely undiscovered , " Zimmermann sound out .
As the two types of tobacco that were key in the containers were commonly smoked at the sentence in the area , the extra presence of Mexican marigolds lead the researchers to think the Maya purposefully mixed these substance . Marigold has a nipping smell and was thought by the ancient Maya to have some medicinal attribute , hence the sketch hypothesized that the Maya might have mixed these substances for a more enjoyable and rewarding smoking experience .
This new method acting of identifying nitty-gritty will hopefully pave the agency for future investigations into thepre - Colombian use of goods and services of psychoactiveand non - psychoactive plants . " The depth psychology methods developed in collaboration between the Department of Anthropology and the Institute of Biological Chemistry give us the power to look into drug utilization in the ancient humans like never before , " Zimmermann say .
" We are thrive frontiers in archaeological science so that we can better investigate the inscrutable metre human relationship mass have had with a all-inclusive chain of psychoactive plant life , which were ( and continue to be ) consume by humans all over the human race , " tot co - author Shannon Tushingham . " There are many ingenious ways in which the great unwashed manage , usage , manipulate , and prepare aboriginal plants and plant intermixture , and archaeologists are only beginning to scratch the aerofoil of how ancient these pattern were . "
