Utah Makes News with Proof of Human Tobacco Use
The Great Salt Lake in Northern Utah is the site of an archeological dig called Wishbone Hearth, named for the duck wishbones found in the ancient hearth, but this recent dig proved beyond successful. Scientists unearthed charred tobacco seeds, dating back to around 12,300 years ago, providing evidence of human usage.
Until this find, the earliest evidence of human tobacco use in North American was found in Alabama, but only dated back about 3.300 years ago. With the charred remains of tobacco seeds, scientists were able to determine the specific tobacco plant, Nicotiana attenuata, that the seeds came from. Nicotiana attenuata, commonly known as Coyote Tobacco, is still used in ceremony and other significant cultural practices by indigenous people today.
"On a global scale, tobacco is the king of intoxicant plants, and now we can directly trace its cultural roots to the Ice Age," said archaeologist Daron Duke of the Far Western Anthropological Research Group in Nevada, lead author of the research published on Monday in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.