Hunter-gatherer tobacco smoking: earliest evidence from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

► We developed a method to extract alkaloid residues directly from a matrix of whole and fragmentary pipes. ► Nicotine in Pacific Northwest pipes shows tobacco (Nicotiana sp.) use by AD 860. ► Ancient Pacific Northwest hunter-gatherers were likely cultivating tobacco plants. ► Other alkaloids, such as arbutin and anabasine, were not detected by GC-MS in ancient pipes.