When Did Humans Start Experimenting with Alcohol and Drugs?
canopic jug writes:
The Conversation discusses the archeological time line indicating the earliest known usage of various psychoactive substances. They conclude that it is most likely that use of psychoactive substances mostly began relatively late in our history. It probably began after the Neolithic Revolution in 10,000 BC when we invented farming and civilisation. Wine, betel, and cannabis rank among those with the earliest evidence of use found so far.
Archaeology suggests alcohol and drugs date back millennia, to early agricultural societies. But there's little evidence early hunter-gatherers used them. That implies something about agricultural societies and the civilisations they gave rise to promoted substance use. But why?
It's possible large civilisations simply drive innovation of all kinds: in ceramics, textiles, metals - and psychoactive substances. Perhaps alcohol and drugs also promoted civilisation - drinking can help people socialise, altered perspectives encourage creativity, and caffeine makes us productive. And it may just be safer to get drunk or high in a city than the savannah.
A darker possibility is that psychoactive substance use developed in response to civilisation's ills. Large societies create large problems - wars, plagues, inequalities in wealth and power - against which individuals are relatively powerless. Perhaps when people couldn't change their circumstances, they decided to change their minds.
It's a complex problem. Just thinking about it makes me want to grab a beer.
Some psychoactive compounds are stimulants and increase alertness, others decrease it. Some affect mood, and others alter perception of reality.
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