U.K. - University of York finds opium trace in Bronze Age jug

[S.J.B.]

University of York finds drugs trace in Bronze Age jug
BBC
October 3rd, 2018

Traces of opiates preserved inside a 3,500-year-old jug have been found by scientists.

The late Bronze Age base-ring juglet and its contents are intact and is held in the British Museum collection.

There had been a "long-standing" theory the jugs had been containers for opium and a new technique was used detect a plant compound related to it.

It is the first chemical evidence of the opium poppy within such a jug, University of York scientist said.

Dr Rachel Smith, from the university, said: "It's not opium itself we've found, the jug is 3,500 years old so whatever was in there is degraded."

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