A study published in Science Advances presents findings suggesting that ancient foragers on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi engaged in the consumption of mind-altering betel nuts approximately 25,000 years ago, potentially representing the oldest documented evidence of human drug use. The research was based on the examination of skeletal remains from two pre-agricultural individuals discovered at separate sites on the island, with one specimen dated to roughly 7,000 years old and the other significantly more ancient at 16,000 to 25,000 years old.
Both skeletal remains exhibited distinctive deep, rounded grooves worn into their teeth, with some grooves penetrating so deeply that they would have exposed the dental pulp. Researchers theorized that these unusual wear patterns resulted from the individuals holding hard, round, and abrasive objects—specifically betel nuts—in their mouths repeatedly over extended periods. To substantiate this hypothesis, scientists soaked betel nuts in artificial saliva and detected sufficient levels of arecoline, the psychoactive compound found in the nuts, to produce a high, though milder than when the nut is chewed. Analysis of the foragers’ remaining tooth tissues confirmed the presence of arecoline residue.
Betel nuts, which are the seeds of the Areca catechu palm, rank as the world’s fourth most widely used psychoactive substance after alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, with an estimated one-tenth of the global population currently consuming them. Researchers suggested that these ancient foragers may have initially used the nuts as a traditional remedy for toothache, as the substance produces numbness in the mouth. However, the practice created a problematic cycle in which prolonged nut-sucking caused severe dental wear that then necessitated continued use to manage the resulting dental pain.
Experts noted that while humans likely began using psychoactive plants upon encountering them, the oldest previously documented traditions of drug use were believed to date back approximately 13,000 years with fermented beverages. The current findings establish what researchers describe as direct evidence for the antiquity of human psychoactive substance consumption and demonstrate that betel nut consumption constitutes a tradition extending into prehistoric times.
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