Caffeine could arguably be the thing that keeps the world spinning, as so many people need their fix of it before they are able to function in the morning. However, do you know how old the use of caffeine is within our society?
Most people would argue that it was just a few centuries old, but you would be so wide of the mark if you did indeed go ahead and give that answer. Instead, archaeologists believe that the use of caffeine goes back to the Palaeolithic age to a date that is approximately 700,000 years ago.
The reason why this theory is believed to be plausible is simply because caffeine appears in a variety of plants, and it has been shown through research that those plants were used all those years ago, so it is hardly a giant leap in the imagination to then decide that our ancient ancestors were also using it like some kind of drug.
Now, they were not using it in the form of coffee or a soft drink, but there is a firm belief that they spent their time chewing on the plant which would still release some of the caffeine into their bloodstream. From this, they would then have more energy to go and hunt for food, so it would have certainly been beneficial for them to make full use of those plants whenever they could.