A team of archaeologists have discovered two 2,400-year-old pure gold 'bongs' used by tribal chiefs to smoke cannabis and opium in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia.
The items, which the chiefs used during ceremonies, were not the only findings of the dig, as the team also uncovered seven pounds of gold items that were buried in a chamber lined with stones and concealed by a thick layer of clay.
Criminologists found out that the thick, black residue inside the vessels come from the cannabis and opium smoked by tribal royalties.
It is believed that the bongs were used by the Scythians, a nomadic warrior race that ruled large portions of Europe and Asia between the 9th century B.C. and the 4th century A.D., which means that the items could be some of the oldest to ever exist, according to the Daily Mail.
"Scythians used a plant to produce smoke that no Grecian vapour-bath can surpass which made them shout aloud," wrote Herodotus, a Greek historian who died in 425 B.C.
The Scythians would smoke, and sometimes brew, a strong concoction of cannabis and opium and take them in before a battle, according to ZME Science.
Golden cups, rings, and neck rings were also found when an area of land was dug up in Russia for power lines, Metro reported. These were cleaned and put on display in a Russian museum.
"These are among the finest objects we know from the region," said Antonn Gass, from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin.
