National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.
Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chengdu, 610071, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Jul 15;275:114114. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114114. Epub 2021 Apr 20.
As one of the first plants used by ancient people, cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. The long history of medicinal cannabis use contrasts with the paucity of archaeobotanical records. Moreover, physical evidence of medicinal cannabis use in a secular context is much rarer than evidence of medicinal cannabis use in religious or ritual activities, which impedes our understanding of the history of medicinal cannabis use.
This study aims to provide archaeobotanical evidence of medicinal cannabis use and analyse the specific medicinal usage of cannabis in a secular context in ancient times.
Plant remains were collected from the Laoguanshan Cemetery of the Han Dynasty in Chengdu, South China, with the archaeological flotation process and were identified based on morphological and anatomical characteristics. The examination of the medicinal significance of the remains relied on the investigation of the documentation on unearthed medical bamboo slips, the diseases of the tomb occupants, the cemetery's cultural background and Chinese historical records.
The botanical remains were accurately identified as cannabis. More than 120 thousand fruits were found, which represents the largest amount of cannabis fruit remains that have been statistically analysed from any cemetery in the world thus far. The cannabis fruits are suspected to have been used for medical purposes in a secular context and were most likely used to stop severe bleeding of the uterus and treat lumbago and/or arthralgia.
The cannabis fruit remains reported here likely represent the first physical evidence of medicinal cannabis use for the treatment of metrorrhagia, severe lumbago, and/or arthralgia. This study emphasizes the importance of the evidence of the diseases suffered by the occupants of the tomb in determining the medicinal use of cannabis in a secular context and contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the ancient history of medicinal cannabis.
大麻作为古代人类最早使用的植物之一，已有数千年的药用历史。药用大麻的使用历史悠久，而考古植物学记录却很少。此外，在世俗背景下使用药用大麻的实物证据比在宗教或仪式活动中使用药用大麻的证据要少得多，这阻碍了我们对药用大麻使用历史的理解。
本研究旨在提供药用大麻使用的考古植物学证据，并分析古代世俗背景下大麻的具体药用用途。
从中国南方成都老官山汉墓中采集植物遗骸，采用考古浮选法，并根据形态和解剖学特征进行鉴定。通过对出土竹简医学文献、墓主人疾病、墓地文化背景和中国历史记载的调查，考察了遗骸的药用意义。
植物遗骸被准确鉴定为大麻。发现了超过 12 万颗大麻果实，这是迄今为止从任何墓地中统计分析的最大数量的大麻果实遗骸。这些大麻果实疑似被用于世俗背景下的医疗用途，很可能用于治疗子宫大出血和治疗腰痛和/或关节痛。
这里报告的大麻果实遗骸可能代表了治疗月经过多、严重腰痛和/或关节痛的药用大麻使用的第一个实物证据。本研究强调了确定世俗背景下大麻药用用途时墓主所患疾病证据的重要性，并有助于全面了解药用大麻的古代历史。
