Scientific evidence suggests usage as early as 12,000 BC. Specifically, in Mongolia and southern Siberia (Figure 1). It's likely to have thrived in “dump sites” of prehistoric hunters and gathers. Sperate from hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) fibers and its structural applications, cannabis seeds are nutritious and display psychoactive attributes which demonstrated value to ancient medicine keepers, or to break up the monotony of daily life. Primarily to bypass the sensation of complacentness. Burned and/or ignited cannabis seeds have been found in found in kurgan burial mounds of the Pazaryk tribes in Siberia dating back to 3,000 BC (Warf).
Other potential beginnings for cannabis include the Huang He River valley, the Hindu Kush mountains, South Asia or Afghanistan. The biogeography of cannabis shifted from glacial retreat and expansion. In turn, pushing the stability of early cultivation back. During the upper-Paleolithic period, spatial movement of cannabis was notably reshaped by the native humans who domesticated it. There is archaeobotanical evidence for “spread centers of pollen and seed analysis”. Despite multiple cultures possessing written records of its cultivation and use. Demonstrating, that cannabis is among humanity’s oldest cultivated crops (Warf).
Ancient Chinese cultures collectively developed the oldest pharmacopoeia or “book” containing directions for the identification of compound medicines. The pen-ts’ao ching or relative pharmacopoeia was developed in the first century 2,700 BC. Based on oral traditions passed down from the time of Emperor Shen-Nung. Signs of cannabis use included: rheumatic pain, intestinal constipation, disorders of the female reproductive system and malaria (Warf).
KNOWLEDGE
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