Is this the world’s oldest image of a mind-altering plant?

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Aug 12, 2026 · 972 words · By Benjamin Pothier

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What to know about Is this the world’s oldest image of a mind-altering plant?

The author proposes that certain bell-shaped red signs in Spain's El Castillo cave, dating back 15,000 to 17,000 years, may be depictions of psychoactive nightshade plants. The article discusses the visual similarities to belladonna and henbane, draws parallels with other prehistoric art and later European ritual use, and suggests that environmental DNA testing could verify the claim.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 13

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Deep in the El Castillo cave in northern Spain, up a side passage off the main pathway, there is a small painted panel most visitors would walk straight past.

Why it matters

Created some 17,000 to 15,000 years ago, it shows five red signs, each shaped a little like a bell.

Common ground

A natural stone ledge runs beneath them like the lip of an altar.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Is this the world’s oldest image of a mind-altering plant??
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that at Chauvet Cave in south-eastern France, a cave bear skull was deliberately placed on a flat stone block, with traces of a fire lit beneath it... roughly 36,000 years old?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/is-this-the-worlds-oldest-image-of-a-mind-altering-p…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 3

info Single Source 3

check_circle Corroborated 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

verified Verified By Reference 2

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Claim 1: “at Chauvet Cave in south-eastern France, a cave bear skull was deliberately placed on a flat stone block, with traces of a fire lit beneath it... roughly 36,000 years old.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 2: “Their active compounds – atropine, scopolamine, hyoscyamine – produce vivid hallucinations and the striking sensation that one’s skin is sprouting fur or feathers.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific sensation of skin 'sprouting fur or feathers' is mentioned in one web search result. While the compounds are known hallucinogens, the specific tactile hallucination is not corroborated by the other medical sources provided.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Atropine acts as an antagonist for organophosphate poisoning by blocking the action of acetylcholine at muscarinic receptors caused by organophosphate insecticides and nerve agents, such as tabun (GA)…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropine

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web search NEUTRAL — Sep 24, 2024 · Atropine is used treat serious or life-threatening conditions in adults and children, such as noisy breathing and cardiac arrest due to no or low heartbeats. It also helps in controllin…
https://www.drugs.com/mtm/atropine-injection.html

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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 27, 2023 · Atropine (Atropine) may treat, side effects, dosage, drug interactions, warnings, patient labeling, reviews, and related medications including drug comparison and health resources.
https://www.rxlist.com/atropine-drug.htm

info

Claim 3: “Following the French archaeologist André Leroi-Gourhan’s mid-20th-century framework, ovals, triangles and rounded forms across Palaeolithic sites like these bell-shaped signs were often catalogued as vulvar or female symbols.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for André Leroi-Gourhan consists of generic searches for the name 'André' and does not contain information about his archaeological framework or theories on vulvar symbols.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form corresponding to the English name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André

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web search NEUTRAL — André Trindade da Costa Neto (born 16 July 2001), simply known as André (Brazilian Portuguese: [ɐ̃ˈdɾɛ]), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL Championshi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_(footballer,_born_2001)

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web search NEUTRAL — André est un prénom issu du bas-latin (Andreas), nom d'un des apôtres : il s'agit d'une forme gréco-latine reposant sur le grec Ανδρέας (Andréas), dérivé anthroponymique en -έας (-éas) du mot ἀνὴρ (an…
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_(prénom)

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Claim 4: “it was at Pinwheel Cave in California, where chewed bits of hallucinogenic plant matter found wedged into the rock gave the first unambiguous physical proof anywhere in the world that a plant depicted in rock art had been ingested at the site.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (National Geographic and a scientific report) confirm that chewed hallucinogenic plant matter (Datura quids) found at Pinwheel Cave in California provides physical proof of ingestion at a rock art site.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following scientific events occurred in 2023.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_in_science

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article lists a number of significant events in science that have occurred in the first quarter of 2023.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January–March_2023_in_science

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Chumash rock art is a genre of paintings on caves, mountains, cliffs, or other living rock surfaces, created by the Chumash people of Southern California. Pictographs and petroglyphs are common throug…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_art_of_the_Chumash_people

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Henbane, another psychoactive nightshade native to the region, produces a similarly shaped bell at certain stages of its growth.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is a psychoactive nightshade native to Europe with bell-shaped flowers.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger, also black henbane and stinking nightshade) is a poisonous plant belonging to tribe Hyoscyameae of the nightshade family Solanaceae. Henbane is native to temperate Europe an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoscyamus_niger

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The characteristics of Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger. Henbane has bell-shaped flowers growing both singularly and in spikes, and are typically pale yellow, lined with purple veins and throat, though varia…
https://www.gothichorrorstories.com/witches-garden/witch-gar…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The pale yellow, bell-shaped flowers with purple veins are a diagnostic feature of this species. The plants grow up to 36 inches tall and have hairy leaves that are sticky to the touch. Black henbane …
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethnobotany/Mind_and_Spi…

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Claim 6: “Belladonna’s use threads through European history right up to the witch trials in Germany, France and Italy, roughly from the 15th to 17th centuries, where it was considered a staple of the “flying ointments””

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Belladonna's use in 'flying ointments' during the witch trials.

verified

Claim 7: “I published a paper in 2021 making a similar case for a tree drawn on the Chu Silk Manuscript, China’s oldest illustrated text.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms the existence of the Chu Silk Manuscript, an ancient Chinese text on silk.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Chu (Chinese: 楚; pinyin: Chǔ; Wade–Giles: Ch'u, Old Chinese: *s-r̥aʔ) was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was lo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_(state)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Chu Silk Manuscript (traditional Chinese: 楚帛書; simplified Chinese: 楚帛书; pinyin: Chǔ Bóshū; Wade–Giles: Ch'u Po-shu), also known as the Chu Silk Manuscript from Zidanku in Changsha (traditional Chi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Silk_Manuscript

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mawangdui Silk Texts (traditional Chinese: 馬王堆帛書; simplified Chinese: 马王堆帛书; pinyin: Mǎwángduī Bóshū) are Chinese philosophical and medical works written on silk which were discovered at the Mawan…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawangdui_Silk_Texts

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 8: “a 2023 survey of 5,786 catalogued images across 113 European Palaeolithic caves found that plants account for just 0.07% of them, against over half for animals.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 9: “The famous “mushroom” figures of Tassili n'Ajjer in the Sahara... The oldest widely discussed candidates date to roughly 7,000–9,000 years ago.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 10: “Deep in the El Castillo cave in northern Spain... there is a small painted panel... [that] shows five red signs, each shaped a little like a bell.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the existence of the El Castillo cave in northern Spain and specifically describe a panel with five red bell-shaped signs.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — El Castillo (Spanish pronunciation: [el kas'tiʎo], 'the Castle'), also known as the Temple of Kukulcan, is a Mesoamerican step-pyramid that dominates the center of the Chichen Itza archaeological site…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Castillo,_Chichen_Itza

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Cueva del Castillo contains both a decorated cave and an archaeological site, within the complex of the Caves of Monte Castillo, in Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain. The archaeological stratigraph…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_El_Castillo

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Noelia Castillo Ramos (14 November 2000 – 26 March 2026) was a Spanish woman who died after receiving euthanasia. Her request for euthanasia became a landmark case in Spain on the application of the O…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noelia_Castillo_euthanasia_cas…

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 11: “Chemical analysis of bronze age human hair from the burial cave of Es Càrritx in Menorca confirms people there consumed multiple psychoactive compounds, atropine and scopolamine among them, around 3,000 years ago.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding chemical analysis of hair from Es Còrritx in Menorca.

verified

Claim 12: “the lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel – a 40,000-year-old ivory carving with a human body and the head of a cave lion”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and multiple web sources confirm the Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel is an ivory carving approximately 40,000 years old depicting a human body with a cave lion's head.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hohlenstein-Stadel is a cave located in the Hohlenstein cliff (not to be confused with the Hohle Fels) at the southern rim of the Lonetal (valley of the Lone) in the Swabian Jura in Germany. While fir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohlenstein-Stadel

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Löwenmensch figurine, also called the Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel, is a prehistoric sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave, part of the Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian J…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-man

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Stadel may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadel

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 13: “Created some 17,000 to 15,000 years ago”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific dating of 17,000 to 15,000 years for the bell-shaped signs is mentioned in one web search result. Other results discuss general cave art dating in Spain but do not specifically confirm this range for these signs.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Castillo San Felipe del Morro (English: Promontory Castle of Saint Philip), most commonly known as El Morro (The Promontory), is a large fortress and citadel in the Old San Juan historic quarter of Sa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_San_Felipe_del_Morro

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — El Castillo (Spanish, 'The Castle') may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Castillo

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.