The 25,000-Year-Old Teeth That Just Rewrote The History Of Human Drug Use

Three molars from the karst cave of Leang Bulu Bettue in South Sulawesi.

Dated to somewhere between 16,000 and 25,000 years ago.

Carrying smooth, rounded grooves worn by years of holding a hard, round object against the enamel.

Carrying chemical traces of arecoline, the primary psychoactive alkaloid of the areca palm.

What do they say?

They say: I did this.

I held this nut in my mouth, over and over, for years, until the groove wore deep.

I did it even as the enamel gave way and the pain began.