Bronze Age Psychedelia: Exploring Ancient Hallucinogenic Rituals.

Strands of human hair found in a Spanish burial cave suggest that Bronze Age humans living 3,000 years ago used hallucinogens, likely derived from local plants, as part of their rituals. The hair, found inside wooden containers hidden deep within a sealed grotto on Minorca, an island off the coast of eastern Spain, tested positive for a number of mind-altering compounds, suggesting that the people who lived there incorporated hallucinogenic experiences into the rituals of their lives. The findings provide the first direct evidence that ancient Europeans consumed psychoactive drugs much like their pre-Columbian brethren in Mesoamerica.