Stoned in the Stone Age: prehistoric people drew large – Israeli scholars

Prehistoric people have sought psychedelic experiences in deep and narrow caves, a team of Israeli scholars claims in an article published in The Journal of Archeology, Consciousness and Culture last week.

Kedar’s research focuses on understanding the implications of smoke distribution and air circulation on humans at Paleolithic caves and rock shelters.

“When I visited some ornate caves in France, I noticed a few years ago that most images are deep in very narrow caves,” she told The Jerusalem Post. “I began to wonder why they preferred to work like this, as opposed to painting at the entrance of wider caves, where they could also enjoy natural light.”

More than 400 decorated caves, the drawings of which date from the Upper Paleolithic period – between 40,000 and 11,000 years ago – have been found in Western Europe.

The researchers considered the possibility of penetrating prehistoric people a few hundred meters deep into the caves a conscious choice that enabled them to communicate with their cosmos, with the low oxygen concentration found in the environments become what serves as a drug.

“The natural oxygen concentration in the atmosphere is 21%,” Kedar explained. “A lower concentration of oxygen creates a condition known as hypoxia.”

Hypoxia officially occurs when the oxygen concentration is below 18%.

The researcher pointed out that the symptoms include dizziness and headaches, but also euphoria and an increase in dopamine release – which can lead to hallucinations and out-of-body experiences, especially if the oxygen level is below 14.5 % decreases.

The team, which included independent researcher Gil Kedar and TAU professor of prehistoric archeology, Ran Barkai, simulated the use of artificial light in various enclosed spaces inside caves to analyze the conditions in such contexts in the upper Paleolithic caves. .

The combination of limited air circulation and the use of torches and oil lamps resulted in the oxygen concentration decreasing below 18% within 15 minutes, with the percentage dropping to 11%. People can survive in an environment as long as the rate is above 9%.

According to the researchers, the altered state of mind caused by hypoxia also affects the use of the caves.

“We suggest that the depictions themselves should be seen as one component of human connection and interactions with the cosmos, and not as the sole and ultimate purpose of the people who created it in the deepest depths of the cave,” they said. written in the newspaper. .

“We claim that access to these deep, dark caves was a conscious choice, motivated by the understanding of the transformative nature of an underground, oxygen-depleted space.”

The next step for the team will be to understand more about how many people can house those caves at the same time in terms of oxygen level, as well as the number of torches.

“After running the simulation on computers, I want to measure the oxygen levels in real caves,” Kedar concluded.