c. 500 BCEPeer-reviewedWell documented
Ritual Cannabis in the Pamirs
On the timeline · around c. 500 BCE ·
What happened
At the Jirzankal cemetery high in the Pamir Mountains, archaeologists found wooden braziers holding burnt stones and cannabis residue rich in psychoactive compounds — burned during funerary rites around 2,500 years ago.
Why it matters
It is the earliest clear chemical evidence for smoking cannabis for its psychoactive effects, showing the plant was used to alter the mind in ritual millennia ago.