醉酒的起源:毒品和酒精最初用于宗教仪式

Origins of Inebriation Revealed
揭示醉酒的起源

This cuneiform text dates back to the 6th year ofprince Lugalanda who ruled about 2370 B.C. in southern Mesopotamia.It is an administrative document concerning deliveries of three sorts of beer to different recipients
这种楔形文字的历史可以追溯到公元前2370年左右，王子卢加尔安达在美索不达米亚南部统治的第六年。它是一种行政文书，将三种啤酒传递到不同的人手中。

In prehistoric Eurasia,drugs and alcohol were originally reserved for ritual ceremonies, and weren'tused merely to satisfy hedonistic motives, a new study suggests. What's more,given the sacred role of the substances, their use was likely highly regulatedand only available to elite citizens.
一项新的研究表明，在史前的欧亚大陆时期，毒品和酒精的最初用于宗教仪式，而不是仅用来满足人们享乐。更重要的是，考虑到这些物质神圣的角色，它们的使用几乎是受到高度控制的，仅供给于杰出公民。

Many Eurasian cultures are known to have anancient history with psychoactive substances, as evidenced by early writtendocuments. The Greek historian Herodotus, for example, once described theScythians' (Iranian equestrian tribes) post-funeral purification ceremonyinvolving hemp, which dates back to the fifth century B.C.
据早期的书面文件证明，许多欧亚文化是已公认拥有一种精神活性物质的古代历史。例如，希腊历史学家希罗多德曾经描述斯基泰（伊朗马术部落）葬礼的净化仪式中涉及大麻，而这可追溯到公元前第五世纪。

But written records aren't the onlyindication of early drug and alcohol use.
但是文字记录并不是早期使用药物和酒精的唯一痕迹。

"It is generally thought thatmind-altering substances, or at least drugs, are a modern-day issue, but if welook at the archaeological record of prehistoric Europe, there are many datasupporting their consumption," said study author Elisa Guerra-Doce, aprehistory expert at the University of Valladolid in Spain. "Apart fromthe presence of macrofossil remains of plants with these [mind-altering]properties, there are artistic depictions of opium poppies, for instance, andsome designs in megalithic tombs may have been inspired by altered states ofconsciousness."
“人们普遍认为，改变意识的物质，或者说是药物，是一个现代议题，但如果我们看看欧洲史前考古记录，这儿有很多数据可以证明他们的假设，”该研究的作者西班牙巴利亚多利德大学史前史专家艾丽莎·格拉-多西说道，“除了存在改变意识的植物化石，还有对罂粟的艺术描绘，例如，巨石墓里的一些设计可能会激发人们改变意识形态。”

Despite numerous indications,archaeologists have largely overlooked the use of mind-altering substances inEurasian prehistory. So Guerra-Doce decided to sort through the scarce andscattered information in the scientific literature, in hopes of gaining abetter understanding of the history and context of ancient drug and alcoholuse.
尽管有许多迹象表明，考古学家已经在很大程度上忽略了欧亚史前使用改变思想的物质。所以格拉-多西决定整理科学文献中稀少且分散的信息，以更好地理解历史和古老药物酒精使用的文本信息。

She reviewed four lines of evidence:macrofossil remains of psychoactive plants, residues from fermented alcoholicdrinks, psychoactive alkaloids (chemical compounds) on artifacts and skeletalremains, and artistic depictions of psychoactive plants and drinking scenes.
她回顾了四条证据：含有精神活性植物的大化石，发酵的酒精饮料残留物，文物和遗骨的活性生物碱（化合物）以及精神活性植物和饮用场景的艺术描写。