Researchers discovered on the teeth of two hunter-gatherers from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi wear marks and chemical traces constituting the oldest known evidence of drug use. The traces point to a habit that continues today: keeping whole areca seeds inside the mouth. One of the individuals lived 16,000 to 25,000 years ago; the other, a Holocene man, lived approximately 6,300 to 7,600 years ago. Despite the thousands of years separating them, both showed characteristic grooves from this habit. Those who consume areca nut today describe the effects as a chill, adrenaline, and sweat. The article presents no further details about the second individual or additional conclusions from the study.
Science
We have used the same drug for 25,000 years. What is the areca nut?
ZAP Notícias14 September 2026 at 16:00
Why this matters
This archaeological discovery redefines the history of psychoactive substance use, demonstrating that humans used drugs far earlier than previously thought. For readers in the region, the research highlights the deep cultural roots of areca nut consumption in Southeast Asia, a habit that persists today and involves hundreds of millions of people.
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