The study that revealed this story was published in Science Advances on September 9, 2026.

The journal is one of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s open-access publications.

The study is available to read by anyone with an internet connection.

The journal title of the paper: “Betel nut sucking is the earliest recorded evidence for the habitual use of a neuroactive plant drug.”

Adam Brumm of Griffith University led the team.

Fourteen authors contributed.

The Indonesian archaeologists and researchers who have spent years excavating these Sulawesi caves made the discovery possible.