Biomarkers reveal ancient history of tobacco smoking in the Pacific Northwest
By 
Jamie Durrani2018-11-05T15:29:00
Stone pipe residues suggest wild tobacco was smoked for centuries before the arrival of Euro-American settlers
Indigenous communities in North America were smoking tobacco hundreds of years earlier than previously thought, according to a new study of biomarkers extracted from ancient stone pipes. Researchers at Washington State University, US, analysed residues on the pipes to piece together a record of tobacco use in the Pacific Northwest stretching back at least 1200 years.