casus…. Ceramics were more elaborate than those of the Yamma culture and included, especially in female burials, low footed vessels interpreted as ‘censers’, presumed to be used in rituals involving some narcotic substance such as hemp” (Mallory, et al., 1997). “It seems, therefore, that the practice of burning cannabis as a narcotic is a tradition which goes back in this area some five or six thousand years and was the focus of the social and religious rituals of the pastoral peoples of central Eurasia in prehistoric and early historic times” (Sherratt, 1995).“These ‘censers’ often highly decorated with ‘sunburst’ motifs, are widespread across the steppe region in the third millennium b.c. (extending at least from the Dnieper to the Yenisei) and may be part of a ritual complex. The censers also diffuse westward at this time in Romania, Hungary and further along the Danube” (Mallory, et al., 1997).
Clearly, humanity has had a natural, indigenous relationship with this plants, that extends back thousands of years, and the rich history of various culture’s relationship with this magical, healing herb, is something that we will be exploring further, in future articles….. For more on cannabis in the ancient world, Check out Chris Bennett’s book Cannabis and the Soma Solution .
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Schultes, R.E., Man and Marijuana, Nat. Hist. 82 (1973)
McPartland J. M., Guy G. W., The evolution of Cannabis and coevolution with the cannabinoid receptor—a hypothesis, in The Medicinal Use of Cannabis and Cannabinoids, (2004)
Merlin, Mark, Man and Marijuana, (Barnes and Co, 1973)
Sagan, Carl, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, (Random House, NY, 1977)
Mallory, J. P. and Adams, Douglas Q., Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, (Taylor & Francis, 1997)
Ratsch, Christian, Plants of Love: Aphrodisiacs in Myth, History, and the Present, (Ten Speed Press, 1997)