The Oldest Evidence of Psychedelics in The Andes Predates The Inca

The Oldest Evidence of Psychedelics in The Andes Predates The Inca

In the Peruvian Andes, thousands of years ago, humans were making liberal use of psychoactive drugs.We know this for a fact: For the first time, direct chemical evidence of these drugs has been found, in residual traces left on the paraphernalia used for their consumption. It's the earliest known human use of psychoactive drugs in the Andes. That use was by a culture known as the Chavín who inhabited the region during the Middle-Late Formati…

Evidence has been discovered in Peru that members of the pre-Inca elites performed secret rituals that involved the consumption of powerful psychoactive substances. At the archaeological site of Chavín de Huántar, paraphernalia with traces of nicotine and DMT was found.

Archaeologists found artifacts with traces of dimethyltryptamine and nicotine in an underground gallery sealed more than two millennia ago. The finding is one of the clearest evidence of the ritual use of psychedelic substances by Chavín de Huántar A hidden underground room, millenary stone walls and tools carved accurately from bird bones. What seemed like a simple gallery sealed inside the Chavín de Huántar complex ended up revealing one of th…