http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/331370

World's oldest cannabis found in China

By Dierdra Baptiste

Aug 23, 2012

In what would be Cheech & Chong's greatest fantasy, the world’s oldest stash of nearly 2lbs of cannabis was found in a tomb in China. 2,700-year-old pot that is.
According to an MSNBC report, in 2008, "the sizable amount of marijuana was excavated at the Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, China. It was found lightly pounded in a wooden bowl in a leather basket near the head of a blue-eyed Caucasian man who died when he was about 45."

In a research article from The Journal of Experimental Botany, the find is explained:
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.

Various cultures are known to have used hemp as far back as 7,000 years to make all sorts of goods. But as Discovery News reported, earlier excavations in and around Gushi show they used wool for clothing and reed fibers to make rope.

Researchers feel this find of cannabis was used either for medicinal purposes or as an aid to divination.

Ethan Russo, author of the research article told Discovery News that it was similar to today’s marijuana and could “produce THC (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, the main psychoactive chemical in the plant)."

It’s also speculated the marijuana may have been used as a psychoactive agent (or to get high) because the male plant parts, which are less psychoactive, had been picked out.

There were no objects found that would allow for smoking such as pipes, so there’s no evidence of how the cannabis was ingested. Some on the research team think it may have been taken orally.

It’s thought the individual may have been a shaman from the Gushi people. Also buried along with him were many items, rare and considered to be of high value, including “a make-up bag, bridles, pots, archery equipment and a kongou harp.”

"As with other grave goods, it was traditional to place items needed for the afterlife in the tomb with the departed," Russo said.
This rare find has been placed at the Turpan Museum in China.

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http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/12/03/marijuana-stash.html

Oldest Marijuana Stash Found
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Dec. 3, 2008 --

Nearly two pounds of still-green plant material found in a 2,700-year-old grave in the Gobi Desert has just been identified as the world's oldest marijuana stash, according to a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany.

A barrage of tests proves the marijuana possessed potent psychoactive properties and casts doubt on the theory that the ancients only grew the plant for hemp in order to make clothing, rope and other objects.

They apparently were getting high too.

Lead author Ethan Russo told Discovery News that the marijuana "is quite similar" to what's grown today.

"We know from both the chemical analysis and genetics that it could produce THC (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase, the main psychoactive chemical in the plant)," he explained, adding that no one could feel its effects today, due to decomposition over the millennia.

Russo served as a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany while conducting the study. He and his international team analyzed the cannabis, which was excavated at the Yanghai Tombs near Turpan, China. It was found lightly pounded in a wooden bowl in a leather basket near the head of a blue-eyed Caucasian man who died when he was about 45.

"This individual was buried with an unusual number of high value, rare items," Russo said, mentioning that the objects included a make-up bag, bridles, pots, archery equipment and a kongou harp. The researchers believe the individual was a shaman from the Gushi people, who spoke a now-extinct language called Tocharian that was similar to Celtic.

Scientists originally thought the plant material in the grave was coriander, but microscopic botanical analysis of the bowl contents, along with genetic testing, revealed that it was cannabis.

The size of seeds mixed in with the leaves, along with their color and other characteristics, indicate the marijuana came from a cultivated strain. Before the burial, someone had carefully picked out all of the male plant parts, which are less psychoactive, so Russo and his team believe there is little doubt as to why the cannabis was grown.

What is in question, however, is how the marijuana was administered, since no pipes or other objects associated with smoking were found in the grave.

"Perhaps it was ingested orally," Russo said. "It might also have been fumigated, as the Scythian tribes to the north did subsequently."

Although other cultures in the area used hemp to make various goods as early as 7,000 years ago, additional tomb finds indicate the Gushi fabricated their clothing from wool and made their rope out of reed fibers. The scientists are unsure if the marijuana was grown for more spiritual or medical purposes, but it's evident that the blue-eyed man was buried with a lot of it.

"As with other grave goods, it was traditional to place items needed for the afterlife in the tomb with the departed," Russo said.

The ancient marijuana stash is now housed at Turpan Museum in China. In the future, Russo hopes to conduct further research at the Yanghai site, which has 2,000 other tombs.