The discovery was made in archaeological layers dating back 15,000 years, INSAP, subordinate to the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, stated in a press release. The related study was published by the prestigious journal Nature.

“Plants discovered match the Ephedra species, which fruits were unearthed in an area of the cave dedicated for burials following specific rituals, widespread among human groups in the Stone Age, especially from 22,000 to 7,000 years ago”, the Institute points out.

“This plant has several benefits, but was probably used to stop haemorrhaging and perhaps to alleviate pain,” the press release added. Earlier search in the Pigeons cave revealed a human skull with evidence of a surgery, called trepanation, dating back 15 thousand years and considered the oldest in the world.

“Studies have shown that the hole caused by trepanation healed, meaning that the person who "underwent the surgery" survived and was able to overcome its aftermath thanks to the use of this type of plant,” the press release explained.

“It is also common knowledge that these Stone Age groups practiced dental avulsion, consisting in pulling out incisors of both boys and girls as a rite of passage from puberty to adulthood. This operation would also be very painful, thus plants would have been used,” the same source added.

According to INSAP, the earliest trace of this plant in an archaeological context was identified in the burial of a Neanderthal and dates to around 40,000 years ago. However, this trace matches pollen carried there by the wind, unlike the discovery made in the Pigeons cave in Taforalt, where “charred fruits of this plant were found and would therefore be the oldest medicinal use of these plants,” the press release stated. 

“This does not rule out the possibility of their use in burial rituals, but the discovery confirms that human groups in the Pigeons cave in Taforalt had precise knowledge of various uses of plants 15,000 years ago, i.e. some 8,000 years before the Neolithic period,” it adds.

Several researchers made the discovery, including Director of INSAP, in charge of archaeological excavations in the Pigeons cave in Taforalt Abdeljalil Bouzouggar, INSAP prizewinner and doctoral student at the University of Las Palmas in Spain Ismail Ziani, researcher at the Natural History Museum in London Louise Humphrey, professor at Oxford University Nicholas Barton, professor at Las Palmas University Jacob Morales and professor at Mohammed 1st University in Oujda Hassan Talbi.

The search conducted at the Pigeons cave in Taforalt is part of a cooperative program between INSAP (Morocco), Mohammed I University (Morocco), Oxford University (UK) and the Natural History Museum (UK), including PhD students and researchers from INSAP, the Max Planck Institute (Department of Archaeogenetics) in Germany and the Center for Archaeological Research in Monrepos, Germany.