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Tiny spoon-shaped objects worn by Roman-era Germanic warriors may be evidence that they used stimulants on the battlefield. According to a new analysis of the mysterious artifacts and their context, archaeologists and biologists believe the suspiciously round fittings may have been used to dispense medicine that gave warriors an advantage when they faced off against their opponents thousands of years ago.
What these drugs actually were is unknown; we would have to find some evidence of their existence, such as remains, which can be a difficult task after thousands of years have passed. But this concept is not unprecedented; and, if confirmed, the team's hypothesis could reveal evidence of drug use among cultures outside the Roman Empire.
This would be a major problem: while the use of drugs such as opium is well documented in Greece and Rome, the use of drugs and stimulants in ancient times outside of this region remains a mystery. Historians used to assume that the only drug actually used by barbarians was alcohol, at least until much later in history.
Biologists Anna Jarosz-Wilkolazka and Anna Rysiak, as well as archaeologist Andrzej Jan Kokowski of Marie Curie-Skłodowska University in Poland, believed that the mysterious spoon-like objects could be evidence to the contrary.
These strange objects constantly appear in the burial places of the Roman era in the territory of modern Scandinavia, Germany and Poland. Their handles are 4 to 7 centimeters (1,6 to 2,8 in) long, with a cup or flat disc at one end 1 to 2 centimeters in diameter. They were often attached to men's belts, but played no role in how the belt functioned.
The team carefully studied these spoon-shaped objects, measuring them, studying how they were incorporated into burials, and the context in which they were buried. They cataloged 241 spoons from 116 localities and made some interesting observations.
One of the most telling was that spoons were often included in military equipment. They were found at the sites of military sacrifices, which directly connected them with the warriors; or accompanied by weapons.
"This," the researchers write in their paper, "allows us to put forward the thesis that these utensils were a regular part of the warrior's armor, and from this we can conclude that pharmacological stimulation of warriors in the face of stress and strain was the order of the day."
This, of course, is unheard of. Just a few examples: during the First World War, cocaine was used in large quantities. During World War II, stimulants such as amphetamine and methamphetamine were widely used by both the Allies and the Axis powers. Between 1966 and 1969, 225 million stimulants, including the amphetamine Dexedrine, were issued to the US military. There are even reports of amphetamine use by Russian soldiers during the war against Ukraine.
After confirming their thesis, the researchers examined materials available to Germanic barbarians that could potentially be used as stimulants. There were quite a few of them, including mushrooms, opium poppies, hops, hemp, belenum, and nightshades such as belladonna and dahlia.
It is not clear which of these plants, if any, were used by the tribes. But humans have a long history of altering their experience of the world through drugs, dating back thousands of years. It seems unlikely that the Germanic barbarians of the Roman era did not use drugs at all. If the team's findings are confirmed, they will tell us more about how our ancestors lived.
"It seems that the awareness of the impact of various types of natural drugs on the human body caused the knowledge of their origin, methods of application," the researchers write, "and the desire to consciously use this wealth for medicinal and ritual purposes."
