Meng Ren, Zihua Tang, Xinhua Wu, Robert Spengler, Hongen Jiang, Yimin Yang, and Nicole Boivin
Science Advances 12 Jun 2019: Vol. 5, no. 6, eaaw1391
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw1391

Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated plants in East Asia, grown for grain and fiber as well as for recreational, medical, and ritual purposes. It is one of the most widely used psychoactive drugs in the world today, but little is known about its early psychoactive use or when plants under cultivation evolved the phenotypical trait of increased specialized compound production. The archaeological evidence for ritualized consumption of cannabis is limited and contentious. Here, we present some of the earliest directly dated and scientifically verified evidence for ritual cannabis smoking. This phytochemical analysis indicates that cannabis plants were burned in wooden braziers during mortuary ceremonies at the Jirzankal Cemetery (ca. 500 BCE) in the eastern Pamirs region. This suggests cannabis was smoked as part of ritual and/or religious activities in western China by at least 2500 years ago and that the cannabis plants produced high levels of psychoactive compounds.

Abstract

TAO CHEN, SHUWEN YAO, MARK MERLIN, HUIJUAN MAI, ZHENWEI QIU, YAOWU HU, BO WANG, CHANGSUI WANG, AND HONGEN JIANG
March 2014 Economic Botany 68(1)
DOI: 10.1007/s12231-014-9261-z

In the Turpan District of Xinjiang, China, large numbers of ancient clay figurines, with representations including equestrians, animals, and actors, have been excavated from the Astana Cemeteries and date from about the 3rd to the 9th centuries C.E. Based on visual inspection, the tails of some of the figurines representing horses are made of plant fibers. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, light microscope examination, and drying–twist tests demonstrated that these fibers were extracted from one or more stalks of hemp (Cannabis) plants. This is a unique report of the utilization of Cannabis bast fibers for figurine decoration in ancient Turpan.

Abstract

Chris S Duvall
February 2015
Publisher: Botanical Series, Reaktion Books, London
264 pages
ISBN:   9781780233413 
Purchase from publisher:  http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781780233413 

Cannabis, one of humanity’s first domesticated plants, has been utilized for spiritual, therapeutic, recreational, and even punitive reasons for thousands of years. Humans have excellent practical knowledge of Cannabis uses, yet limited understanding of its sociocultural consequences, past or present due to its widespread prohibition. In Cannabis, Chris Duvall explores the cultural history and geography of humanity’s most widely distributed crop, which supplies both hemp and marijuana. This book provides a global view of the plant, with coverage of little-studied regions including Africa and Australia. This book focuses on the plant’s currently most valuable product, the psychoactive drug marijuana. Cannabis also covers the history of hemp and its use as a fiber source for ropes and textiles; as a source of edible hempseeds; and as a source of industrial oil for paints and fuel. This book does not advocate either the prohibition or legalisation of the drug but challenges received wisdom on both sides of the debate. Cannabis explores and analyses a wide range of sources to provide a better understanding of its current prohibition, as well as of the diversity of human–Cannabis relationships across the globe. This, the author argues, is necessary to redress the oversimplistic portrayals of marijuana and hemp that dominate discourse on the subject, and ultimately to improve how the crop is managed worldwide. This highly accessible, richly illustrated volume is an essential read given rapidly evolving debates about prohibition, and in light of changes in the legality of marijuana in Uruguay, some U.S. states, and other jurisdictions worldwide.

-Abstract

Hui-Lin Li
 October 1973 Economic Botany 28(4):437-448
 DOI: 10.1007/BF02862859

From a historical vantage, Cannabis has been found in China since Neolithic times, about 6,000 years ago, with a continuous record of cultivation down to the present. This record stands unique in comparison to those of other regions in Asia, and it strongly indicates the plant to be indigenous. New archeological finds in recent years considerably substantiate and extend its early history. The very scattered references in historical literature are in need of organization and analysis. These records are assembled here, followed by some notes on the possible routes of early diffusion of the plant in relation to its usage.

-Introduction