Current research on smoking pipe residues

Biomolecular archaeology reveals ancient origins of indigenous tobacco smoking in North American Plateau

“…Chemical identification techniques using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) allow archaeologists to identify tobacco use through the identification of the biomarker nicotine found in residues extracted from ancient pipes, human hair, ceramics, and dental calculus ( 10 – 12 , 34 – 38 ). At present, the earliest bimolecular evidence of tobacco use/ancient smoking practices is in areas where tobacco was farmed, in eastern North America and South America; much less is known about hunter-gatherers’ tobacco use, especially in northwestern North America ( 13 ).…”

Nicotine in the hair of mummies from San Pedro de Atacama (Northern Chile)

“…Nicotine has been found in the hair of pre-Columbian mummies from as far back as 1095 A.D. (Musshoff et al, 2009) and also in smoking pipe residues from sites in North America dated as early as 300 B.C. (Rafferty, 2002(Rafferty, , 2006Rafferty et al, 2012;Tushingham et al, 2013); in other words, nicotine is stable enough to withstand the passage of at least one millennium within a hair follicle and two millennia in a pipe residue.…”

Dental calculus as a source of ancient alkaloids: Detection of nicotine by LC-MS in calculus samples from the Americas

“…), in dental calculus. Because nicotine is relatively stable and can survive over archaeological time scales (Rafferty, 2002(Rafferty, , 2006Rafferty et al, 2012;Tushingham et al, 2013), and is typically introduced to the body via the mouth, we hypothesized that it may preserve in dental calculus. Tracing the ancient spread of tobacco in the Americas has traditionally relied on the presence of pipes and/or charred tobacco seeds (e.g., Adair, 2000;Adams and Toll, 2000;Carrasco et al, 2015;Echeverría et al, 2014;Gili et al, 2017;Haberman, 1984;Pauketat et al, 2002;Wagner, 2000;papers in Bollwerk andTushingham, 2016, Rafferty andMann, 2004), and more rarely preserved leaves, and/or quids (e.g., Adams et al, 2015;Fewkes, 1912:143;Jones, 1935;Morris, 1960) andpollen (e.g., Cummings, 2000).…”

“…While some have suggested that tobacco use was late, appearing in southeast North America only around 1000 CE, and as late as the historic period in the American southwest (Ford, 1981), more recent work suggests a much greater antiquity. Data from eastern and southwestern North America suggests use of tobacco by 2000-3000 years ago, though the particular species of tobacco is not known (Adams, 1990;Haberman, 1984;Pauketat et al, 2002;Rafferty, 2002Rafferty, , 2006Rafferty et al, 2012;Winter, 2000a). As well, there seems to be consensus that Nicotiana rustica reached the Eastern USA and Canada from South America by 3000 and 2000 years ago.…”