Scientists Discover the First Physical Evidence of Tobacco in a Mayan Container

Scientist have discovered the first real physical evidence that the Mayan people used tobacco.

They also think that they were making an alcoholic beverage from the tobacco.

That must have been one nasty tasting drink to try to swallow.

source

Newswise — Troy, N.Y. – A scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an anthropologist from the University at Albany teamed up to use ultra-modern chemical analysis technology at Rensselaer to analyze ancient Mayan pottery for proof of tobacco use in the ancient culture. Dmitri Zagorevski, director of the Proteomics Core in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer, and Jennifer Loughmiller-Newman, a doctoral candidate at the University at Albany, have discovered the first physical evidence of tobacco in a Mayan container. Their discovery represents new evidence on the ancient use of tobacco in the Mayan culture and a new method to understand the ancient roots of tobacco use in the Americas.

Their research will appear in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, in an article titled “The detection of nicotine in a Late Mayan period flask by GCMS and LCMS methods.”

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Tobacco traces were discovered inside a 1,300-year-old Mayan flask which effectively had 'tobacco' written on it in hieroglyphs.

However, the tobacco detected in the 'very small' flask may not have been used for smoking.

This Mayan flask from around 700AD has been proved to have contained tobacco, matching the hieroglyh on the front which translates roughly as 'House of his/her tobacco'

While the flask is likely to have stored tobacco leaves, the Maya also ground tobacco into a powder from which they could make a powerful alcoholic drink, snort like snuff or even use as snake repellent.

'This was very strong tobacco, much stronger than it is today,' Jennifer Loughmiller-Newman, an archaeologist at the University of Albany in New York, told MSNBC.

Tobacco? They sure? Looks like a bong and a smiley face to me (really)

reply to post by isyeye

It's actually a subject quite dear to my heart. Smoking. That they found evidence of people having tried to make beer from tobacco is just totally awesome. It's like killing 2 birds with one stone.

Whether it's James Dean, Gandalf or those smoking hot dames from the old black and white movies, (Lauren Bacall era) tobacco does have a surprisingly good image. I'm sure it's a conspiracy.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


The article stated the tobacco was probably in powder form. However you can make tea from tobacco - as I understand it its rather nasty tasting; any leaf can be placed in boiling water but the taste is another matter. I also understand that tea made from a cigarette leaves taste like a cigarette,,,,eeeeuuuuhhh

Tobacco booze? I drank bong water once when I was younger that was bad enough

I wonder if Indians also died from lung cancer, heart disease etc.?
Or is that just for our times.

reply to post by Hanslune

Tobacco tea is also a trick some plant people (horticulturists?) use to discourage bugs and the like. Make a good strong tea, spray plant liberally, profit.

BTW I'm a smoker if that wasn't entirely clear from my post. While I do not "drink" it, I do quite like the taste of additive-free, non-chemical tobacco. Especially after a meal with a good strong cup of coffee. All I can say is it aids my digestion.

reply to post by LeLeu


The reason the cigarettes we have today cause cancer along with other things isn't because of the tobacco. It's because of the chemicals they put into the cigarettes.

Originally posted by LeLeu
Tobacco booze? I drank bong water once when I was younger that was bad enough

I wonder if Indians also died from lung cancer, heart disease etc.?
Or is that just for our times.

Probaly not we add all kinds of crazy things to tobacco now days. thiers was probaly natural!!

Might of just been a medicine, used on special occasions. Us being the dumb asses we are use it all the time.Anyway, since those days the plant has been cursed more than once. I will see if I can find some info on that curse, I was quiet taken back when I read it. but it was something like may it bring disease on your people, the children of your people and the children of your children and continue perpetually through time. To do this a demon was invited in to the plant. No proof of course, but would it surprise you after the gift of flue infested blankets?

The approximately two-and-a-half-inch wide and high clay vessel bears Mayan hieroglyphics, reading “the home of his/her tobacco.”

I wonder how TOBACCO is spelled in Mayan hieroglyphics or whether they had such Mayan hieroglyphics describing Tobacco.

Originally posted by coredrill

The approximately two-and-a-half-inch wide and high clay vessel bears Mayan hieroglyphics, reading “the home of his/her tobacco.”

I wonder how TOBACCO is spelled in Mayan hieroglyphics or whether they had such Mayan hieroglyphics describing Tobacco.

Tobacco in the Proto-Cholan is k'utz or K'iihtz : I couldn't find a web glyph image but the way to find it is to find the Thompson number 603-507 or 1016-507