8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The oldest evidence of human use of tobacco was discovered in Utah

According to recent research, burnt seeds discovered in the Utah desert suggest that humans used tobacco initially and that some of the first people to arrive in the Americas utilized the plant.

According to new research, where these individuals gathered — now known as the Wishbone hearth site — is the site of the earliest known use of tobacco. Its existence also suggests the use of tobacco goes back thousands of years earlier than scientists realized. The discovery shows that humans smoked tobacco approximately 10,000 years earlier than previously assumed.

These findings were published Monday in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

Previous to this study, researchers had only dated tobacco use in North America to 3,300 years ago. That evidence was nicotine found in smoking pipes in Alabama.

Archaeologists excavated the remnants of a hunter-gatherer settlement on mudflats in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert for the new research. Wind aided in the site’s exposure over time, according to Daron Duke, an archaeologist from the Far Western Anthropological Research Group in Henderson, Nevada.

Researchers dig at the Wishbone site, where ancient tobacco use was discovered. Daron Duke
Researchers dig at the Wishbone site, where ancient tobacco use was discovered. Photo: Daron Duke

The scientists discovered an intact ancient fireplace surrounded by stone artifacts such as spear points frequently employed in large game hunting. The fireplace also included almost 2,000 bones and bone fragments, primarily from ducks, with cut marks and other evidence indicating that humans cooked and ate there.

The fireplace had burned willow wood, which was probably the finest fuel choice in the region, as it is now in modern neighboring regions. The wood was subsequently tested using carbon dating, which entails measuring the quantity of a radioactive form of carbon with a known rate of decay; the results indicated that the wood was around 12,300 years old.

The scientists discovered four charred Nicotiana — tobacco — seeds at the Wishbone hearth site. Using radiocarbon dating on charred wood from the hearth, the researchers estimated humans were using tobacco roughly 12,300 years ago.

This cultural use of tobacco by ancient peoples eventually gave way to domestication, spread to the rest of the world, and spurred modern tobacco use.

Cover Photo: Tobacco seeds in the palm of a human hand. Researchers discovered charred tobacco seeds at the Wishbone site, confirming indigenous cultural use of the tobacco plant. Photo: Tammara Norton

Related Articles

Two more Giants discovered at Mont’e Prama in Sardinia, Italy

7 May 2022

7 May 2022

Two more Giants have emerged from the Mont’e Prama excavations in Sardinia: both of the new statues have been described...

A Lynx Buried with Four Big Dogs in an Ancient Roman Well in Hungary

17 April 2024

17 April 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the skeleton of an adult male lynx accompanied by four big dogs in a Roman-era pit in...

A rare Pictish stone was found near the potential site of the famous Scottish battle that led to the creation of Scotland

7 March 2022

7 March 2022

A team of archaeologists has discovered a Pictish symbol stone close to the site of what is thought to have...

Oldest US firearm unearthed in Arizona, a 500-year-old bronze cannon linked to Coronado expedition

27 November 2024

27 November 2024

Independent researchers in Arizona have unearthed a bronze cannon linked to the 16th-century expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, and...

A First in Türkiye: ‘Pilgrim Dimitrakis’ Inscribed Skull Found in Sinop

1 August 2024

1 August 2024

A male skull with the Greek inscription “Pilgrim Dimitrakis” was found during archaeological excavations at Balatlar Church in Sinop, on...

Mesolithic stone mace head found during excavation of a site near Buckingham

4 April 2023

4 April 2023

Archaeologists discovered an attractive Mesolithic stone mace head while excavation of a site near Buckingham. The work was done by...

Rare clay figurine found in Italian Cave dating back 7000 years

26 July 2023

26 July 2023

Archaeologists from Sapienza University of Rome discovered a figure with female features in the Battifratta cave, near Poggio Nativo in...

6000-Year-Old Salt Production House Rewrites Europe’s History

31 March 2021

31 March 2021

Archaeologists in the UK have found an ancient stone age-era salt-production house in North Yorkshire, estimated to be older even...

Analysis of 13,000-Year-Old Bones Reveals Violent Raids in Prehistoric ‘Jebel Sahaba’

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Since its discovery in the 1960s, the 13-millennium-old Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile Valley, Sudan) has been regarded as one of...

Scotland’s oldest tartan discovered in Highlands bog

1 April 2023

1 April 2023

According to new research, a piece of fabric discovered in a bog in the Scottish Highlands may be the oldest...

Three Roman Graves Uncovered in Portugal

17 April 2024

17 April 2024

Three burials dating to the 5th or 6th century AD have been unearthed in the ancient Roman city of Ossónoba...

Archaeologists Discover Northernmost Hellenistic Elite Residence Featuring Ionic Architecture and Graffito in North Macedonia

2 July 2025

2 July 2025

In a groundbreaking archaeological campaign, the NL Museum of Kumanovo has unearthed a remarkable Hellenistic-era residence near the village of...

A cave in Argentina houses the oldest known pigment-based rock art in South America

15 February 2024

15 February 2024

An astounding collection of almost 900 rock paintings, dating back approximately 8,200 years, has been discovered in northwestern Argentina. The...

The sensational second discovery in Croatia: Greek-Illyrian Helmet 2500 years old

16 April 2024

16 April 2024

Archaeologists found a 2500-year-old Greek-Ilyrian helmet during excavations in the Gomila area in the town of Zakotorac on Croatia’s Pelješac...

At Göbeklitepe, believed to be the earliest known Mesolithic temple complex, grinding stones were discovered

26 October 2022

26 October 2022

A recent discovery at Göbeklitepe, the oldest known Mesolithic temple complex, has revealed grinding stones, new finds expected to shed...