Researchers have found that ancient people living on the northern coast of modern-day Chile were using tobacco at least 6,000 years ago. This was indicated by cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, which was preserved in dental calculus extracted from seven samples. According to an article published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, it is likely that these ancient people chewed tobacco leaves, since no smoking pipes or other devices of comparable age have been found in the area.
Since ancient times, locals in different regions of North and South America have used tobacco (Nicotiana sp.) in various forms. To date, the earliest potential traces of such activity have been discovered by researchers in the state of Utah. During excavations at the Wishbone site, they found four charred tobacco seeds, which are about 12.3 thousand years old.
However, there is no direct evidence that people used tobacco so long ago. Such evidence includes smoking pipes, which sometimes retain plaque, or, for example, the presence of tobacco-specific alkaloids in the dental calculus of ancient people. The age of such evidence exceeds several thousand years.
This time, Pedro Andrare from the University of Concepción and his colleagues focused on findings from the Antofagasta region, which is located in the north of modern-day Chile. It had previously been assumed that the ancient coastal inhabitants of this region, which is characterized by harsh conditions, began using tobacco around 3.5-1.5 thousand years ago, as indicated by smoking and inhalation devices, as well as chemical analysis of the hair of some people.
However, now scientists have selected for analysis by the method of gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry the teeth of 12 ancient people from five different sites located in the coastal zone of Antofagasta. They decided to check whether the tobacco alkaloids were preserved in the dental calculus of these individuals: nicotine, nornicotine, anabasine and cotinine. The researchers did not find convincing evidence that the first three alkaloids were present in the dental calculus. However, cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine, was present on the teeth of seven people. According to the results of radiocarbon analysis, the most ancient of these people lived about 6.2 thousand years ago.
Cotinine was present in the tartar of both men and women. Most likely, this indicates that these people used tobacco of the N. solanifolia species. However, archaeologists have not found any smoking pipes or devices for inhaling tobacco in this area that are comparable in age, although even organic products are very well preserved there due to the very dry climate. Most likely, the authors of the article write, the ancient Americans chewed tobacco leaves, considering it a stimulant or a medicine.
Tobacco was also used by the ancient inhabitants of Mesoamerica. For example, not long ago, American scientists analyzed vessels from Cotzumalhuape, a large city of the late classical period located in the territory of modern Guatemala. Inside these artifacts, which are more than a thousand years old, they found nicotine, indicating that they originally stored tobacco.
