The genetic evidence supports this, that the Eurasian hemp line split from the eastern Himalayan line of cannabis at least 10,000 years ago.
I'd be interested in seeing that study. I'll then try to touch on this matter a bit more.
The genetic evidence supports this, that the Eurasian hemp line split from the eastern Himalayan line of cannabis at least 10,000 years ago.
Look up what the definition of sativa is and you will, beyond any shadow of doubt, know what sativa really is.
It is not a cannabis specific term and is incorrectly used in all of R.C.C. and Sam Skunkmans writings as well as books & articles of others.
I do agree with pretty much everything you're saying but I'd like to emphasize the fact that both the NLD and WLD genepools are likely to contain hemp genes. Mexican and Jamaican probably more due to historical reasons, Afghani also due to geography. Central Asia is NLH territory. Where the two subspecies meet we tend to see massive diversity.
I’ll attempt to educate myself more before I disrupt the conversation any further
point out that hot peppers are a species, no matter how wildly the varieties differ from each other
this exceptional discovery made at Jirzankal, also offers the first direct evidence that men inhaled cannabis smoke burned to enjoy its psychoactive effects
"The origins of cannabis smoking: Chemical residue evidence from the first millennium BCE in the Pamirs"
it is highly unlikely that the cannabis plants on the steppe before the first millennium BCE were cultivated, and no evidence for wild populations with high THC levels exists for the steppe.
this exceptional discovery made at Jirzankal, also offers the first direct evidence that men inhaled cannabis smoke burned to enjoy its psychoactive effects
It's funny I was just reading an article about this report, now I find the report itself. Great find.
In trying to prove their point about 'smoking' they kind of meander around, they talk about Heredotus. I'm tired of hearing the damn story, it's mentioned every time there's an archeological find of cannabis. I think it's completely irrelevant here.
it's a brazier with hot coals, as described in Herodotus, in an area that was inhabited by Scythians for more than a thousand years - from the late second and early 1st millenium BCE until the early centurues CE and the Saka-Kushan era (Sakas = Scythians)
They correctly point out that the Scythians were burning seeds to create a smoke bath in a 'sweat lodge' after a funeral to cleanse themselves after contacting the dead. (As a side note Herodotus mentions them 'shouting in delight', I wonder if these were really cries of mourning?)
They then mention 'smoking' afterwards to get high, as a means of communicating with the dead. This is a reference to ancient China where Taoist shaman mediums would use cannabis to predict the future and talk to spirits of dead people, animals and such. However ancient China was a very very long way from the ancient Ukraine and earlier they mention
the 'Taoist' texts that mention these practices were in fact from Gandhara, Parthia, and NW India, and should more accurately be called Buddhist... they're texts attributed to Jivaka, who's traditionally regarded as the physician of the Buddha... point being, they're Indic literature and describe practises that originate in Central Asia
Xinjiang, in NW China was the eastern end of the Scythian realm, ie the Sakas. Shache was a Scythian city, aka Yarkand, and is nearby the find... Ukraine was the Western end of the Scythian realm
The difference here is we know the cannabis in China and possibly in this find was purposely bred for higher amounts of THC. It's unnecessary to try to link it to Heredotus and the practices on the steppe because they had different cannabis and different culture. They've tested the Scythian's left over residue which is why they're sure they weren't farming it and it was low in THC. So it probably wasn't imported either.
in fact, it's the finds from central China that show predominantly or only CBD... residues from the finds in Scythian areas like Xinjiang and Stavropol indicate THC
Even though this is a Chinese find in a region that is part of China geographically, ethnically, and culturally it's part of Turkestan. Right in the middle of the Himalayas. Where the Hindu Kush, Karakorum, Hindu Raj, and Kunlun mountain ranges meet. To the north you have the Alay Valley of Kirghistan, to the east the Yarkand Valley, and to the south the Hindu Kush and Afghanistan's Wakhan corridor. This is Wide Leaf Afghan hashish country, all these areas have always produced great hashish.
broad-leafleted plants haven't been documented in Xinjiang
It's so high in the mountains and the season is so short it's got to finish fast.
if you go to Chitral, which is relatively speaking not far from the find, farmers prefer to harvest in early November
while humid India stuck to hand rubbing. The finely woven carpets in central Asia would be easily adapted to sieving I wonder how ancient their manufacture is?
it's not that humid in harvest season in the Himalaya - you can sieve ok anywhere in the charas regions of the Himalaya, including Nepal... but you can't sieve through a carpet anywhere... sieving is done through taught cotton or silk
I'd like to know more about these people, were they nomads or farmers?
nomads often farmed, the Scythians being a good example of that - the find is very likely Scythian or another Iranian group such as the Wusun, who may have essentially been Scythians too
Realizing I’m *not* a botanist, I’d say that internode distance and leaf shape would be a better classification basis than “drug content”, when said content is so much at the mercy of the cultivator.
I love the discussion, y’all - good stuff.