Ephedra, a group of mysterious hallucinogenic medicinal plants, has been used in China for a long history. As the excavation work proceeded at Lop Nor, Xinjiang Province of China where the ancient residents attributed to an ancient and isolated autochthonous Asian gene pool used to live, Ephedra was unearthed from Xiaohe Cemetery. The unearthed Ephedra was dated by 14C radiometric dating and identified as E. sinica by morphological, microscopical observation in combination with ultra performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Based on the identified chemicals and general aromatic characteristics of the plant, Ephedra may be one of the earliest plants potentially used for corpse embalming or religious worship.