At the Origins of Tobacco-Smoking and Tea Consumption in a Virgin Population (Yakutia, 1650–1900 A.D.): Comparison of Pharmacological, Histological, Economic and Cultural Data

• Published in: Biology
• Main Authors: Macé, Matthias, Richeval, Camille, Alcouffe, Ameline, Romanova, Liubomira, Gérard, Patrice, Duchesne, Sylvie, Cannet, Catherine, Boyarskikh, Irina, Géraut, Annie, Zvénigorosky, Vincent, Nikolaeva, Darya, Stepanoff, Charles, Allorge, Delphine, Debrenne, Michele, Telmon, Norbert, Ludes, Bertrand, Alexeev, Anatoly, Gaulier, Jean-Michel, Crubézy, Eric
• Other Authors: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SHS.ANTHRO-BIO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Biological anthropology; Yakutia; Siberia
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03966813; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10121271

(1) Background: The way tobacco and tea spread among virgin populations is of major interest our understanding of how ancient economic and cultural practices could have influenced current habits. (2) Methods: hair concentrations of theobromine, theophylline, caffeine, nicotine, and cotinine were measured in hair samples from 47 frozen bodies of people from eastern Siberia, dated from the contact with Europeans to the assimilation of people into Russian society. (3) Results: hair concentration of theobromine, theophylline, and caffeine vary with the type of beverage consumed: green, black, or local herbal teas. Shortly after the first contacts, a few heavy consumers of tobacco were found among light or passive consumers. Tobacco-related co-morbidities began to be recorded one century after and heavy tea users were only found from the 19th century (4) Conclusions: Economic factors and social and family contacts seem to have played a decisive role in tobacco consumption very early on. Behavioral evolution governed the process of substance integration into Siberian culture and was a determinant for the continuity of its use across long periods of time. Analyzing the respective contributions of social and economic processes in the use of these substances opens avenues of investigation for today’s public health.