03-December-2008, 05:51 AM
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Order of Kilopi
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 8,581
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ancient cannabis from Central Asia
Quote:
Journal of Experimental Botany 2008 59(15):4171-4182; doi:10.1093/jxb/ern260
Accepted 25 September 2008
Abstract
The Yanghai Tombs...China have recently been excavated to reveal the 2700-year-old grave of a Caucasoid shaman whose accoutrements included a large cache [~28 ounces] of cannabis, superbly preserved by climatic and burial conditions...
Introduction
...the current study used additional botanical, phytochemical, and genetic investigations to demonstrate that this cannabis was psychoactive and probably cultivated for medicinal or divinatory purposes. Great care was taken to prevent contamination of the sample throughout the analyses...
Results
...The cannabis retained a surprisingly green colour in its leafy parts and displayed visible glandular trichomes (Fig. 2B). Achenes (‘seeds’) averaged 2.2–3.6 mm in length, were light in colour with some striations, but demonstrated rough, non-concave fruit attachment (Fig. 2D), all traits of domestication...
Journal of Experimental Botany
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A quite thorough examination! |