They look quite different to today’s smoking devices (Picture: 1TV)

Two ‘bongs’ which were used by tribal chiefs to get high have been discovered in Russia.

But rather than the cheap plastic things teenagers buy down the market, these bongs are made of solid gold.

Archaeologists found thick black residue in the bongs, and determined that they were used to smoke cannabis and opium in a ceremonial setting.

It is thought the impressive implements belonged to the Scythians, a nomadic warrior race who ruled large swathes of Europe and Asia between the 9th century BC and the 4th century AD.


This mean the bongs could be 2,400-years-old, making them some of the oldest in existence.



MORE: The world’s first ‘MDMA shop’ has just opened (but there’s a catch, of course)

Ring and necklaces were also found (Picture: 1TV)

MORE: Charity release app which allows to children to speak of abuse through emojis

Several historians say the Scythians smoked, and sometimes brewed, a strong concoction of cannabis and opium in order to alter their state of mind before heading into battle.

Famed Greek historian Herodotus, who died in 425BC, wrote: ‘Scythians used a plant to produce smoke that no Grecian vapour-bath can surpass which made them shout aloud.’

Golden cups, rings, and neck rings were also found alongside the bongs, all of which have been cleaned and are now on display in a Russian museum.

They were found by construction workers putting up power lines.

Antonn Gass, of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, in Berlin said of the find: ‘These are among the finest objects we know from the region.’