earliest

Research involving two ancient dental samples obtained from Sulawesi, Indonesia, could reveal the world’s earliest known case of drug-use behavior among humans. An article published in the journal Science Advances combines data obtained through tooth wear analysis, chemical analysis, and laboratory experiments to present evidence that the prehistoric hunter-gatherers sucked whole ‘betel nuts’ (actually seeds from the areca palm) between 25,000 and 16,000 years ago. This relatively recent finding extends the timeline of the use of betel nuts thousands of years into the past, far into the last Ice Age. It also adds an unexpected chapter to the story of the earliest human remains unearthed on Sulawesi. Strange Grooves in Two Ancient Mouths The remains of Maros-LBB-1a were recovered from