Saturday, April 21, 2018

The High Steppe

Drugs are not new to the human experience.
[T]he Yamnaya people, who swept out of Central Asia about 5000 years ago and left their genes in most living Europeans and South Asians, appear to have carried cannabis to Europe and the Middle East. In 2016, a team from the German Archaeological Institute and the Free University, both in Berlin, found residues and botanical remains of the plant, which originates in East and Central Asia, at Yamnaya sites across Eurasia. It's difficult to know whether the Yamnaya used cannabis simply to make hemp for rope or also smoked or ingested it. But some ancient people did inhale: Digs in the Caucasus have uncovered braziers containing seeds and charred remains of cannabis dating to about 3000 B.C.E.
From here.

4 comments:

DDeden said...

OT: my response to an old WPP blogpost

DDeden has left a new comment on the post "The Genetics of Body Odor And Earwax":

Body odor is the waste produced by bacteria feeding on skin gland exudates, right?
I've tried to find out if the KhoiSan people have dry or wet ear wax, nothing found so far.
---

I've argued that specifically the facial skin (not the upper forehead) produces scent from sebum glands that dissuades mosquitoes from biting.

My argument is based on this logic- bare skin requires repellant or coverage against biting insects; furred, volar (palm) or scaly skin doesn't.

It is also based on home-tested experimental data. (Needs comparative testing)

A soap-washed face attracted mosquitoes. (bites)
A soap-washed arm attracted mosquitoes. (bites)
A water-washed face did not attract mosquitoes (no bites).
A water-washed arm attracted mosquitoes. (bites)
A soap-washed upper-forehead (above the brows) attracted mosquitos. (bites)
A water-washed upper-forehead (above the brows) attracted mosquitos. (bites)

I assume Korea has had mosquitoes similar to elsewhere, might presence or absence of malaria been a factor? Koreans have no Beta Thallasemia or unusual hemoglobin form, eg. sickle cell, do they? Any thoughts on this?


Posted by DDeden to Wash Park Prophet at 4/22/2018 10:56 AM

DDeden said...

Also, new study on EDAR & shovel-shaped incisors/breast ducts: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2018/04/did-last-ice-age-affect-breastfeeding.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheArchaeologyNewsNetwork+(The+Archaeology+News+Network)&m=1#VlLX3wC0ETYetj5H.97

blogspot said...

they didn't prove anything. They only claim.

andrew said...

@DDeden This is an interesting hypothesis. I like it.