Archaeologists from Griffith University have discovered evidence of areca nut use on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi dating back as far as 25,000 years, according to infohub.kz.
The study was led by Professor Adam Brumm. Researchers examined skeletal remains of two hunter-gatherers found in caves in South Sulawesi. Radiocarbon analysis showed that the older skeleton dates from 16,000 to 25,000 years ago, while the second dates from 6,300 to 7,600 years ago.
Both ancient individuals had characteristic deep, rounded grooves on their teeth, caused by prolonged chewing and sucking of the hard areca palm nuts.
Chemical analysis of the tooth tissue confirmed the presence of arecoline, a psychoactive alkaloid found in the palm's fruit. This discovery pushes the history of regular psychoactive plant use by humans deep into the Ice Age, long before the advent of agriculture.
The areca nut remains one of the most popular mild stimulants in Asia and Oceania today, traditionally chewed with lime and betel leaves. The Australian researchers' discovery proves that this habit took shape among the ancestors of modern humans tens of thousands of years ago.