Marijuana Found In Chinese Shaman’s Tomb

Archaeologists have now learned that the ancient Chinese were not only smoking and using marijuana for medicinal purposes, but also that the region of China where this ancient tomb was discovered may well be the original source of the cannabis strains of the marijuana plant known throughout the world. Next to the body of the shaman was a curious little pouch and inside the pouch was well, can you guess? According to an article written in the Scientific Journal of Experimental Botany:

“It was the oldest stash of marijuana on earth. The cannabis was superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions. The cannabis was presumably employed by this culture as a medicinal or psychoactive agent, or an aid to divination. To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent, and contribute to the medical and archaeological record of this pre-Silk Road culture.”

Archaeologists did not uncover any pipes, bongs or rolling papers, but perhaps the shaman had his own secrets about how to smoke the weed that were buried with him. He would have fared well as a modern dealer. The dope found on him, although the leaf was too old to reveal an exact measurement, had an extremely high content of THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana.

Was the shaman a generous soul who shared his dope with others or was this his own private stash to be consumed in between sober religious obligations? The quoted article claimed he was buried with 789 grams of the stuff, which translates into almost two pounds and a rather hefty jail sentence by the standards imposed by today’s penal system.

Perhaps in jail the shaman could have read about the pleasures and pain of illegal drug use to all the inmates. Perhaps he just would have been content to learn simply how to run a bit faster.

Who knows?

In this case, time will not tell the shaman’s secret truth.