Ancient cave paintings look so similar because the people who drew them were high

Jul 15, 2013 18:16 GMT  ·  By
Scientists in Japan say prehistoric cavemen used to take hallucinogenic drugs
   Scientists in Japan say prehistoric cavemen used to take hallucinogenic drugs

A group of Japanese researchers are quite convinced our ancestors were no strangers to altered states of consciousness.

They say that, as evidence suggests, prehistoric cavemen used to take psychedelic drugs on a fairly regular basis.

Furthermore, it often happened that, shortly after ingesting these drugs, they started drawing on cave walls.

The human brain is wired in such ways that it looks for and sees certain patterns in most of the things that surround it.

This ability becomes even more obvious during consciousness altering states, Daily Mail explains.

Therefore, the fact that prehistoric cave paintings all across the globe share very precise geometric patterns need be seen as proof that our ancestors drew them while under the influence of psychedelic drugs.

“The prevalence of certain geometric patterns in the symbolic material culture of many prehistoric cultures, starting shortly after the emergence of our biological species and continuing in some indigenous cultures until today, is explained in terms of the characteristic contents of biologically determined hallucinatory experience,” specialists detail in a paper recently published in the journal Adaptive Behavior.

It is believed that our ancestors did not take hallucinogenic drugs just for kicks, and that they turned to psychedelic substances only when taking part in various religious rituals.