Earliest evidence of betel nut use found in Pleistocene Indonesia

Researchers report in Science Advances that dental remains from two hunter-gatherers on Sulawesi, Indonesia, show wear and traces of arecoline, indicating betel nut use as early as 25,000 years ago. This pushes back the earliest known drug use by thousands of years. The finding is based on direct analysis of teeth, but the exact dating of the older individual is not fully specified.