Phytochemical and genetic analyses of ancient cannabis from Central Asia

Abstract

The Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region, China have recently been excavated to reveal the 2700-year-old grave of a Caucasoid shaman whose accoutrements included a large cache of cannabis, superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions. A multidisciplinary international team demonstrated through botanical examination, phytochemical investigation, and genetic deoxyribonucleic acid analysis by polymerase chain reaction that this material contained tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis, its oxidative degradation product, cannabinol, other metabolites, and its synthetic enzyme, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, as well as a novel genetic variant with two single nucleotide polymorphisms. 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.

Cannabinoids and Epilepsy

“…Physicians in ancient India, Egypt, Persia, Rome, Arabia, and Greece used cannabis for spiritual and medicinal purposes, including menstrual fatigue, gout, rheumatism, malaria, beriberi, constipation, pain, and absentmindedness [14]. Early documented uses of cannabis to treat seizures include a Sumerian text from 2900 BCE and an Arabian document from the twelfth century [15,16].…”

Terpene synthases from Cannabis sativa

“…Cannabis sativa , referred to here as cannabis, has been used for millennia as a medicine and recreational intoxicant [1, 2]. The species Cannabis sativa comprises both marijuana and hemp [3, 4, 5].…”

Investigation of ancient noodles, cakes, and millet at the Subeixi Site, Xinjiang, China

“…Together with the cereal remains, many bows, arrows, saddles, leather chest-protectors, boots, and clothes suggestive of a nomadic lifestyle were excavated in many tombs. Similar tombs were discovered throughout the Turpan Basin such as the Sangeqiao, Yanghai, Kageqiake, Aidinghu, Jiaohe, Alagou Sites (Russo et al, 2008). These sites are very close in period, locality and cultural features, and all of them help to build a picture of Subeixi Culture of Early Iron Age in northwestern China.…”