Ancient Solid Gold Drug Paraphernalia Discovered in Southern Russia

Archaeologist discovered a stash of Scythian gold believed to contain two ancient bongs. Photo by Andrei Belinski.

Archaeologists in Southern Russia have unearthed what they deduce to be two 2,400 year-old pure gold “bongs.”

Andrei Belinski discovered the ornate drug kit in a buried chamber, covered in clay and lined with stones in 2013. Other gold items weighing 7 pounds were also found during digging to install power lines in the area, the Daily Mail reports.

Criminologists analyzed the bongs and discovered thick layers of cannabis and opium residue. Experts were then called in and they revealed that the items belonged to the Scythians, nomadic warriors who controlled large parts of Europe and Asia from the 9th Century BC to the 4th century AD.

Legend has it that the nomadic Iranian tribe smoked cannabis and opium in order to alter their state of mind before going into battle.

Archaeologist discovered a stash of Scythian gold believed to contain two ancient bongs. Photo by Andrei Belinski.

Archaeologist discovered a stash of Scythian gold believed to contain two ancient bongs. Photo by Andrei Belinski.

“Scythians used a plant to produce smoke that no Grecian vapor-bath can surpass which made them shout aloud,” wrote the ancient Greek historian Herodotus of the Scynthian warriors.

The items were found with trove of gold cups, rings, and neck rings, which have now been cleaned up and put on display in a Russian Museum.

“It’s a once-in-a-century discovery,” Anton Gass, of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, told National Geographic. “These are among the finest objects we know from the region.”

Other recent interesting archaeological discoveries include a disgraced nun, and two lovers, locked together for eternity (see Medieval Scandal in Oxford as Skeletons of “Sex-Crazed” Nuns Are Found and Archaeologists Find Prehistoric Lovers Locked in Embrace for 6,000 Years).


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics