No, we are not talking about a ceramic object but an ancient stash of marijuana. It was found in a Yanghai tomb in the Gobi Desert near Turpan in northwestern China. The cache consisted of 789g (28oz) of dried cannabis contained in a leather basket and in a wooden bowl. It was around 2,700 years old but had been preserved due to extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil. It looked green, although it had lost its distinctive odour. Remnants of cannabis have been found elsewhere in the ancient world (such as Egypt), but the helpful con­ditions in which this cache was found has allowed it to be the oldest so far that could be subjected to carbon dating and genetic analysis.