New Evidence Reveals Romans Deliberately Used Poisonous Plant Seeds
Archaeologists have uncovered groundbreaking evidence that the Romans intentionally collected and utilized the poisonous seeds of the madder plant. The team, led by Dr Maaike Groot from Freie Universität Berlin, analyzed seeds of Hyoscyamus niger found in a hollow bone discovered at the Roman settlement of Houten-Castellum in the Netherlands and compared them with other archaeological finds of the plant. Their study has been published in the journal Antiquity.
The findings of the study support the accounts of classical writers such as Pliny the Elder, who discussed the medical applications of the plant as a remedy for fever, cough, and pain. “Our results indicate that Roman medical practices extended even to rural communities on the periphery of the Empire,” explained Groot.
Previous research suggested that the bone may have been a pipe used to smoke the plant, as the seeds are known to produce hallucinogenic effects. However, the lack of singed seeds and evidence of burns on the pipe, in addition to the deadly nature of smoking hundreds of seeds, led the team to conclude that the bone was likely used as a container for storing the seeds.
According to Groot, the discovery provides an important contribution to the discussion on how to distinguish between weeds and cultivated plants in archaeological contexts. This is because black henbane, also known as Hyoscyamus niger, can grow naturally in and around settlements, making it difficult to prove whether it was intentionally used by humans, whether for medicinal or recreational purposes.
This groundbreaking find represents the first example of black henbane seeds found in a container from Roman times. There have only been four other cases of this plant being found by archaeologists in northwestern Europe, and only one of them, from medieval Denmark, was found in a container.
The revelation serves as evidence that the use of medicinal herbs extended beyond the urban centers of the Roman Empire, reaching rural communities on the periphery. The new information opens up new possibilities for understanding ancient Roman medical practices and their applications in everyday life.