2,700 Year Old Weed Stash Found

Too bad the seeds didn't germinate. They might have yielded some really interesting stuff.

OTTAWA - Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.

Dean Beeby, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Nov. 27 2008

The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly "cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odour.

"To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent," says the newly published paper, whose lead author was American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.

Remnants of cannabis have been found in ancient Egypt and other sites, and the substance has been referred to by authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus. But the tomb stash is the oldest so far that could be thoroughly tested for its properties.

The 18 researchers, most of them based in China, subjected the cannabis to a battery of tests, including carbon dating and genetic analysis. Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.

The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, but the sample was too old to determine a precise percentage.

Researchers also could not determine whether the cannabis was smoked or ingested, as there were no pipes or other clues in the tomb of the shaman, who was about 45 years old.

The large cache was contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl, and was likely meant to be used by the shaman in the afterlife.

"This materially is unequivocally cannabis, and no material has previously had this degree of analysis possible," Russo said in an interview from Missoula, Mont.

"It was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife. No hemp or seeds were provided for fabric or food. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied."

The tomb also contained bridles, archery equipment and a harp, confirming the man's high social standing.
Russo is a full-time consultant with GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine approved in Canada for pain linked to multiple sclerosis and cancer.

The company operates a cannabis-testing laboratory at a secret location in southern England to monitor crop quality for producing Sativex, and allowed Russo use of the facility for tests on 11 grams of the tomb cannabis.
Researchers needed about 10 months to cut red tape barring the transfer of the cannabis to England from China, Russo said.

The inter-disciplinary study was published this week by the British-based botany journal, which uses independent reviewers to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of all submitted papers.

The substance has been found in two of the 500 Gushi tombs excavated so far in northwestern China, indicating that cannabis was either restricted for use by a few individuals or was administered as a medicine to others through shamans, Russo said.

"It certainly does indicate that cannabis has been used by man for a variety of purposes for thousands of years."

Russo, who had a neurology practice for 20 years, has previously published studies examining the history of cannabis.

"I hope we can avoid some of the political liabilities of the issue," he said, referring to his latest paper.

The region of China where the tomb is located, Xinjiang, is considered an original source of many cannabis strains worldwide.

I would smoke it.. :thumbsup:

FIRE IT UP

you'd get chinked out FOR REAL

Maybe they found the burial site of... Buddha

:D

The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC :D
makes sense the imperials would be on the good shit :jointsmile:
Man i wish those seeds would have germd that would have been so bad ass to have an old old land race strain like that.

Now that's what I call "OG"!!!:jointsmile:

I"d like to smoke some of that. Probably tastes mild and bland all the terpines would be evaporated out, probably still get u high though.
STIMPY21

Nice if some seeds would germinate.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

The 18 researchers, most of them based in China, subjected the cannabis to a battery of tests

---

Battery of tests my ass, they sat down and gave it the test alright, the fire test! And they probably had a grant to do all this research if that's what these crazy kids are calling smoking these days so they got paid to burn some old ass ganja!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MPLSweedman

FIRE IT UP

you'd get chinked out FOR REAL

---

There's so much win in this single sentence I can't even stand it.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, chinked out.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MPLSweedman

FIRE IT UP

you'd get chinked out FOR REAL

---

hahaha it took me awhile to get your joke
hahahahahhaahh :stoned:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FakeBoobsRule

Battery of tests my ass, they sat down and gave it the test alright, the fire test! And they probably had a grant to do all this research if that's what these crazy kids are calling smoking these days so they got paid to burn some old ass ganja!

---

Fist carbon dating, then genetics, then the mass-spectrometer, and finally... the four-foot-long bong test! That's what clinched it --- it's weed!

"The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odour"

This proves that there is no excuse for brown weed:rastasmoke:

Stash seems to have been intended for buried shaman to use in the afterlife
Nov 27, 2008 01:23 PM
Comments on this story (86)
Dean Beeby
THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA â?? Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.

The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly ``cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odour.

"To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent," says the newly published paper, whose lead author was American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.

Remnants of cannabis have been found in ancient Egypt and other sites, and the substance has been referred to by authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus. But the tomb stash is the oldest so far that could be thoroughly tested for its properties.

The 18 researchers, most of them based in China, subjected the cannabis to a battery of tests, including carbon dating and genetic analysis. Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.

The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, but the sample was too old to determine a precise percentage.

Researchers also could not determine whether the cannabis was smoked or ingested, as there were no pipes or other clues in the tomb of the shaman, who was about 45 years old.

The large cache was contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl, and was likely meant to be used by the shaman in the afterlife.

"This materially is unequivocally cannabis, and no material has previously had this degree of analysis possible," Russo said in an interview from Missoula, Mont.

"It was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife. No hemp or seeds were provided for fabric or food. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied."

The tomb also contained bridles, archery equipment and a harp, confirming the man's high social standing.

Russo is a full-time consultant with GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine approved in Canada for pain linked to multiple sclerosis and cancer.

The company operates a cannabis-testing laboratory at a secret location in southern England to monitor crop quality for producing Sativex, and allowed Russo use of the facility for tests on 11 grams of the tomb cannabis.

Researchers needed about 10 months to cut red tape barring the transfer of the cannabis to England from China, Russo said.

The inter-disciplinary study was published this week by the British-based botany journal, which uses independent reviewers to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of all submitted papers.

The substance has been found in two of the 500 Gushi tombs excavated so far in northwestern China, indicating that cannabis was either restricted for use by a few individuals or was administered as a medicine to others through shamans, Russo said.

"It certainly does indicate that cannabis has been used by man for a variety of purposes for thousands of years."

Russo, who had a neurology practice for 20 years, has previously published studies examining the history of cannabis.

"I hope we can avoid some of the political liabilities of the issue," he said, referring to his latest paper.

The region of China where the tomb is located, Xinjiang, is considered an original source of many cannabis strains worldwide.



As posted here:
TheStar.com | sciencetech | 2,700-year-old marijuana found in Chinese tomb

Pretty cool read....

awesome!!!
hahahahahahahahaha

:D see ?, ya tell somebody its a good idea to cure pot for a looong, looong time :wtf: somebody always takes it to extremes :S2:

Can't believe they didn't immediately burn one.
That would be a smoke of a lifetime!!!!!
Geez thinking about it kinda trips me out.

I predict in the future, nuiggets will be like wine.

In the year 2020 people will be saying...Hey man, I got some 2K8 Thunderfuck!

Booooo Yeah!:rastasmoke:\

PS..I bet if they REALLY wanted to, they could have got a few of those beans to sprout.

Dude you know what's really weird, this exact article was like one of the first threads I ever started way back when. Check it out....http://boards.cannabis.com/cannabis-...ound-weed.html

Weird huh?:jointsmile:

Also I guess they figured out that the corpse was actually 100 years younger since I posted it haha!!

Couldn't find the actual story, but here's a fun little headline:

Dude: Dude

Let's hope that weed was well cured!

sorry...just raising my post count.
Skeet.

here's the story. sorry.
World's oldest marijuana stash totally busted - Discovery.com- msnbc.com

http://boards.cannabis.com/current-e...ash-found.html

I see you are not a master of visuals. We all have our flaws.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dragonrider

Fist carbon dating, then genetics, then the mass-spectrometer, and finally... the four-foot-long bong test! That's what clinched it --- it's weed!

---

Very scientific!

Sorry to bump old news but I found these pics!

Oldest Marijuana Stash Found in Gobi Desert Grave

I'm curious how they knew he had blue eyes.

Yes, indeed it has shamanistic qualities. I consider it sacred.

read this off msnbc


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.

I want to join his religion.