Betel nut is mankind's oldest intoxicant

Humans have had a close relationship with drugs for thousands of years. So far, at least one substance has been found in every culture that is intended to intoxicate people - for example for religious or medical purposes or for recreation. Previously, researchers assumed that beer was the oldest intoxicant, first made from barley in Israel around 13,000 years ago.

But researchers at Griffith University have now identified the betel nut as man's oldest intoxicant. The research results were recently published in the journal “Science Advances”.

The researchers examined exceptionally rare skeletal remains of two early humans. They determined that the two people lived as hunter-gatherers and came from Sulawesi in Indonesia. One of the individuals lived about 25,000 to 16,000 years ago, the other 7,600 to 6,300 years ago.

Both skeletons showed an unusual form of tooth wear. Deep, rounded tooth grooves indicated that people were said to have repeatedly sucked whole betel nuts over a long period of time during their lifetime.

The consumption of betel nuts has been known for a long time. Betel nut palm seed can produce mild euphoria, increased alertness, and other psychoactive effects. “Although it is little known in Western societies, it is the fourth most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world after alcohol, caffeine and nicotine,” says Adam Brumm to the specialist magazine. He led the study.

Today, consumers consume the betel nut in combination with another substance: “Slaked lime triggers a chemical reaction that releases the nut’s psychoactive compounds into the bloodstream more quickly,” says Brumm.

However, the two skeletons examined suggested a different form of consumption. “However, our team conducted experiments in which we soaked betel nuts in artificial saliva and tested the resulting broths on a series of cloned human receptors expressed in frog eggs, including specialized proteins that act as molecular switches and regulate neuronal activity,” says Brumm.

“This showed that simply sucking intact betel nuts releases arecoline in sufficient quantities to have a physiological effect and alter brain function.”

Toothache could also be a reason why people sucked betel nuts. However, researchers know from studies with current consumers that years of nut sucking can lead to serious dental problems.

The researchers speak of the oldest evidence that humans consumed substances to induce a drug rush 25,000 years ago. “Betel nut sucking, which originated in Sulawesi up to 25,000 years ago, long before the advent of agriculture, may be the earliest evidence of drug use anywhere in the world,” said Brumm.

In chronological order, the betel nut is now considered the oldest drug in the world. This is followed by beer, which was brewed in Israel around 13,000 years ago for the purpose of intoxication. About 10,400 years ago, humans in Peru and Texas consumed the San Pedro cactus and mescal beans to intoxicate the senses. It is also assumed that viticulture began in Georgia around 10,000 years ago. The goal: to ferment grape juice and numb the senses with the alcohol. Psilocybin mushrooms are believed to have originated in the Sahara 8,000 years ago.