Tiny spoons could have measured out ancient Roman drugs, researchers suggest — but evidence is sparse

Drawing of a Germanic tribesman holding a small metal object to his nose and closing one nostril.

Small, spoon-like objects found on ancient belts may have been used as drug-dosing equipment for battle-ready soldiers during the Roman era, a new study claims. But according to one expert, the multiple leaps of logic may send this hypothesis up in smoke.

In a study published Nov. 26 in the journal Praehistorische Zeitschrift ("Prehistoric Journal"), researchers studied 241 spoon-shaped belt accessories from northern Europe and southern Scandinavia that date to the Roman period. They suggested that Germanic tribes may have used the objects to dose drugs.