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If you are intersted in that sort of thing, paul devereux's wonderful 'a prehistory of psychedelia' contains some very interesting speculations on the conections between neolithic pottery, psychoactive drug use, rock art and megalithic culture - particularly in the case of breton passage graves.

Also of interest, is the american psychologist Julian Jaynes' theory regarding auditory hallucination, the 'bicameral' mind and its transformation during neolithic times. The speculation that movement from a 'smoking culture' to a 'drinking culture' mirrored or was responsible for some of the major shifts in ritual building and demolition is fascinating.

t

What is the earliest evidence of smoking? That being the delivery system into the lungs or as BC..I did not inhale.

I thought it was the observations of Walter Raleigh in the 16th Century.

Gives the phrase "going out for some skins" a new meaning I suppose.

I'd love to see the paleolithic art in the caves of the Sahara. They date back to the time when the upper African continent was a relatively lush grassy plain, sustaining many animals and plants that are long gone. There are paintings on the walls of these caves that clearly depict psilocybin in a magical-realm context.

I can't imagine that smoking wasn't discovered back in prehistory... humans were much closer to applied botany AND fire.

Many years ago I did some experiments with cannabis at prehistoric sites (research only with minimal inhalation) and found that the stonier the stoner, the more stoned the stone. Would this be about right?

tuesday wrote:
Julian Jaynes' theory regarding auditory hallucination, the 'bicameral' mind and its transformation during neolithic times.
Was that not a Bronze age thing according to Jaynes?

'Tis interesting though.