Ancient Cannabis ‘Burial Shroud’ Discovered in Desert Oasis

Posted On 18 Jun 2018

By Kristin Romey

For the first time, archaeologists have unearthed well-preserved cannabis plants, which were placed on a corpse some 2,500 years ago.

Above photo: Cannabis plants were arranged across the body of a middle-aged man before his burial in Turpan, China, around 2,500 years ago.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY HONGEN JIANG

In an unprecendented discovery, the ancient cannabis plants were discovered in a complete and well-preserved state.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY HONGEN JIANG

Archaeologists are hailing the discovery of an “extraordinary cache” of cannabis found in an ancient burial in northwest China, saying that the unique find adds considerably to our understanding of how ancient Eurasian cultures used the plant for ritual and medicinal purposes.

In a report in the journal Economic Botany, archaeologist Hongen Jiang and his colleagues describe the burial of an approximately 35-year-old adult man with Caucasian features in China’s Turpan Basin. The man had been laid out on a wooden bed with a reed pillow beneath his head.

Thirteen cannabis plants, each up to almost three feet long, were placed diagonally across the man’s chest, with the roots oriented beneath his pelvis and the tops of the plants extending from just under his chin, up and alongside the left side of his face. (Read how Eurasian gold artifacts tell the tale of drug-fueled rituals.)

Radiocarbon dating of the tomb’s contents indicates that the burial occurred approximately 2,400 to 2,800 years ago.

This discovery adds to a growing collection of archaeological evidence showing that cannabis consumption was “very popular” across the Eurasian steppe thousands of years ago, says Jiang.