Ancient ritual bundle contained multiple psychotropic plants

Credit: Jose Capriles, Penn State

A thousand years ago, Native Americans in South America used multiple psychotropic plants—possibly simultaneously—to induce hallucinations and altered consciousness, according to an international team of anthropologists. Credit: Jose Capriles, Penn State

Capriles noted that the co-occurrence of harmine and DMT, which are the primary ingredients of ayahuasca—a beverage that is reported to induce hallucinations and altered consciousness—in the pouch suggests the use of this beverage as one of the drugs in the shaman’s kit. Not only does the presence of numerous compounds suggest simultaneous use of drugs and earlier use of ayahuasca, in particular, but it also indicates intricate botanical knowledge by the owner of the pouch and an effort to acquire hallucinogenic plants, as the plants came from different regions of mostly tropical South America.

Source: phys.org