You could pick a way worse place in the world to be buried than a rocky plateau in the

Pamir Mountains.

That's where you'll find Jerzenkall Cemetery in western China.

I mean, first of all, there's the view.

Jersey Kall Cemetery looks out on some of the most majestic mountains in the world in a region so crammed full of majestic mountains that's known as the roof of the world.

And then there's the design work.

Instead of headstones, black and white pebbles cover the entire grounds and broad bands of alternating stripes.

So I'm sorry to tell you that you've missed your shot to reserve a

plot here by about 2,500 years. It's now a protected archaeological site, and it's a real

shame you missed out because recently, a team of researchers learned that the burial ceremonies

that were performed here back in the Iron Age were a party.

The funeral goers likely danced and sang and played music,

and they did something that may have been a first in human history.

They think that the smoke can be during the ceremony.

They got high.

I'm Emily Vaughn, and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible, and dankest places.

Today, we're finding out where on earth did humans first smoke weed to get high?

And what does that tell us about our prehistoric ancestors? That's after this. If you're from somewhere in the world where marijuana plants are grown in secret or locked away,

it's easy to forget that in other places, it's literally a weed.

It grows everywhere across Central Eurasia, everywhere that I've worked. You see meals a bit sometimes.

This is Rob Spengler. He runs an Archaeobotany lab at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.

And through his work, he's developed an intimate relationship with weed plants. They grow quite dense, and they make great cushioning. I even

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