At this cave in North Africa some 15,000 years ago , a human being was buried alongside an “ unusual and special ” medicinal plant : Ephedra , a humble shrub that ’s still used today in some traditional medicine . It ’s the earliest known grounds of humans using this plant , and it holds the electric potential to cast light on the mysteries of funerary practices and prehistorical medicine .
The discovery was made in La Grotte des Pigeons ( The Cave of Pigeons ) , known topically as Taforalt , near the city of Berkane in northeasterly Morroco . Between 2005 and 2015 , archaeologist discovered the skeletons of several adults and baby placed in a seated or reclining position right at the back of the cave .
One of the skeletons , an adult male get on 19 to 20 eld onetime named Individual 14 , was found to be buried alongside a wealth of rarified and special good , include beast bones , gemstone , and ochre - colored objects .
Illustration of Individual 14 (in blue) along with his Barbary sheep horn core (in grey), stone with ochre (in dark grey and red), animal bones (in yellow), and Ephedra plant bits (as red spots).Image credit: J Morales et al, Scientific Reports 2024 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Among his bones and burial good , researchers led by a team at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have late name hundreds of charred remains belonging to seven different industrial plant species .
Most interesting of all was the breakthrough ofEphedra , a well - knownmedicinal plantthat ’s been used in the traditional medicines of India and China for thousands of years .
The plant life has manypurported wellness benefit – many of which have not been scientifically proven – such as treating colds and respiratory illnesses . It ’s also touted for its ability to supercharge energy andaid weight expiration .
One of its main fighting ingredients is ephedrine , a stimulus that ’s often used to keep low blood pressure during anesthesia , as well to address as asthma , narcolepsy , and obesity .
throw the wide mountain chain of potential the States , the researchers behind this latest discovery in Morocco are n’t totally certain why the man was buried with charred remains of the plant , although they have some ideas .
“ Ephedramay have been a ‘ medicative solid food ’ that was ingest for both its nutritional and therapeutic properties , and it could have been tap to provide several welfare at the same time such as to palliate hunger and conserve wellness , ” the study authors write .
“ Evidence of successful retrieval from operation , such as tooth evulsion and cranial trephination , performed by Iberomaurusian occupants of Grotte des Pigeons evoke thatEphedracould have been used for medicinal purpose . Ephedra is a vasoconstrictor , and it could have been employed to contract the amount of blood red during these surgical operation and as an assistance to recovery , ” they added .
The researchers receipt that we can never totally understand the purpose of the great unwashed who hold out 15,000 days ago . However , they emphasize that it is clear this “ unusual and particular ” flora was down in afunerary context , suggest they realize its significance and strange properties .
“ The ingestion of special food for thought and the position of food rubble in highly symbolical context , such as burial places , have been interpret in other archaeologic context of use as clear evidence of feasting , and potential share-out of intellectual nourishment items with the deceased . Here we suggest that at Grotte des Pigeons , people were using or exhaust unusual and especial foods as part of a [ 15,000 - year - sometime ] human burial and thatEphedrahad a important place among them , ” fix the researchers .
The sketch is published in the journalScientific Reports .
