Mind altering substances are very important to humanity, and have been used for thousands of years. I researched opium quite extensively for one of my works, but alcohol and nightshade have also been used (in the European Neolithic). Alcohol and nightshade should be okay to include (herbs), but I suspect opium would have to go into the (much anticipated) realism DLC, due to the silly ratings systems. These drugs could have been for relaxing, as well as medicine or spiritual.
Elisa Guerra Doce, professor at Valladolid University has dedicated her thesis to drugs (including alcohol) in Pre/Protohistory. I read an article summarizing her work and her conclusions are that drugs weren’t recreative, but ritual to attain trans. Accoding to her research, drugs were used in mortuary rituals and to honor underground gods, and the most probable is that their consumption was socially controlled.
The article talks about marijuana, opium, beer and mushrooms, opium being the most commonly found in archaeological digs. Here is the list of potential drugs in Guerra Doce thesis’:
There better be some staunch penalties to the abilities of workers if they start to all become addicts. Hallucinogens and narcotics, even “natural” are never safe for any part of your body and should come with negatives of overuse and possibly permanent effects to said worker’s attributes. Personally, i don’t think they’re needed in the slightest.
If it served a purpose, perhaps a spiritual one, I don’t think its omission helps get any closer to realism. Though I do agree that there should be some side effects, depending on how they’re used. For example, unregulated usage of raw opium can be lethal, depending on the quantity in the method used. For my own works, I interviewed several people who had used raw opium, recreationally, as well as a doctor. It seems that over dosage was not that uncommon.
Personally, I think if their use is proven by archaeologists they have to be in game.
Just because our modern societies despise those things because some of us abuse of such products doesn’t mean we should necessarily have an important part of social behavior and communities rites of the time being just submitted to any form of censorship political correctness.
Let us keep a Neolithic mind, shall we? We cannot think drugs were used like they are today, mostly because of the fabrication process and distribution networks, much more primitive. No distillation, so little probability of strong alcohols; probing brewing process, which makes beer not very alcoholic; no big demand (because of small population) so no big supply of drugs; drug usage being socially regulated, so its production may have been as well…
I’ve read a little bit more on the subject and archaeologists¹ all agree that drug use was funerary, ritual or linked to feasts. No archaeologist dismisses the recreative use of drugs but none talks about it. That omission cannot be incidental.
In my opinion, and according to my readings, drug use wasn’t a societal problem. It was regarded as something sacred because its effects could not be explained, and thus, kind of relative to the gods. It could be nice to see it implemented for special occasions.
Âą Elisa Guerra Doce, Universidad de Valladolid; Quetta Kaye, London University; Scott Fitzpatrick, North Carolina University and David Anthony, Hartwick College.
I’d agree. I was mostly pointing to it’s use within society, not it’s use specifically as a recreational agent.
I suspect (I would bet any $ on it) that recreation occurred, but I doubt it happened in large amounts.
My last and next book involve drug use in the Neolithic, so the thought came to mind lol
From what little I have read its clear that in some cultures, alcohol (especially beer) was cultivated even before large-scale farming came into place. So i do hope Beer will be in the game!
