40,000 BC - DID THE NEANDERTHALS MAKE USE OF MEDICAL MARIHUANA?
The thought of having a medicine that was in use long before the first humans had even walked on this planet is interesting indeed; one might say it is the stuff of science fiction writers. But unfortunately, while many web sites "hint" at the possibility, there is no solid evidence that the Neanderthals made any use of Cannabis for medical purposes. On the other hand, there is no solid evidence that they didn't either.
The big problem is that there is a total lack of solid archeological evidence, one way or the other, on the subject. For example, no less than seven different plant pollens were found at one well-known Neanderthal gravesite in northern Iraq. Because at least one of these plants had medicinal uses, this finding has raised much speculation. Was this proof that the Neanderthals made use of medical herbs? And what about the other plant pollens found there, was Cannabis one of them?
After extensive research as well as contacting various Neanderthal experts, the answer seems to be that no one really knows. At the present time we simply don't posses the scientific testing methods to find out exactly what those other pollens were, and so it's anyone's guess.