Archaeologists Explored Secret Mountain Rooms—and Found Ancient Psychedelic Paraphernalia
The discovery of ancient bones carved into tubes in the mountains of Peru led researchers to conduct chemical analyses.
Results of chemical and microscopic studies showed that the tubes contained hallucinogenic substances—the first direct evidence of its kind from the region.
The the substances were used as part of a hierarchical class system, as well as for their hallucinogenic impact.
Researchers discovered that pre-Inca stone structures from the mountains of Peru had secret rooms accessible to only the most exclusive in society. In those rooms, they found bones carved into tubes used as psychedelic paraphernalia—part of a ritualistic experience in which special leaders smoked psychoactive plants.
'Taking psychoactives was not just about seeing visions,' Daniel Contreras, an anthropological archaeologist at the University of Florida, said in a statement. 'It was part of a tightly controlled ritual, likely reserved for a select few, reinforcing the social hierarchy.'
A team of researchers from multiple institutions published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences detailing their examination of the mysteries behind caves found at an elevation of 10,000 feet in the Peruvian mountains. These areas were once controlled by the Chavin Phenomenon, a group that dominated the terrain 2,000 years before the Inca empire controlled the Andes.
The Chavin people were known for agricultural innovation in the first millennium B.C., but the society's elite class may have also been innovating in the hallucinogenics space. In the study, the team showed that these 23 tubes carved from hollow bones are the earliest known direct evidence of psychoactive plant use in the Andes. They found the tubes in monumental stone structures at the prehistoric Chavin de Huantar ceremonial site, and claim that the objects demonstrate that 'even in their early stages, socio-politically complex societies incorporated psychoactive plants into ritual activity.'
A range of chemical and microscopic tests of the tubes showed traces of nicotine (from wild relatives of tobacco) and vilca bean residue, which is a hallucinogen related to DMT. The tubes were in private chambers within the massive stone structure—rooms that could only hold a handful of people at one time, giving a cloak of secrecy to the space. The study noted that 'evidence argues that ritual activity often included inducement of altered mental states.'
Controlling access to the altered states gave Chavin's rulers the ability to govern under the guise of working within a mystical power structure that was part of the natural order, the researchers wrote. 'The supernatural world isn't necessarily friendly, but it's powerful,' Contreras said. 'These rituals, often enhanced by psychoactives, were compelling, transformative experiences that reinforced belief systems and social structures.'
John Rick, professor emeritus at Stanford, believes that the ceremonies helped establish class structures, and that leadership tightly controlled access to the personal visions to retain power.
'One of the ways that inequality was justified or naturalized was through ideology—through the creation of impressive ceremonial experiences that made people believe this whole project was a good idea,' Contreras said about the potential that class structure was used to to convince Chavin's builders to construct stone monuments.
Having rooms designed for specific purposes within the mountain society wasn't limited to just the use of hallucinogenics. Archaeologist also found trumpets made from conch shells in chambers that had seemingly been designed to enhance the shell's musical attributes.
The research team believes they've helped answer questions about a site first discovered over a hundred years ago. The Chavin have been linked to earlier more egalitarian societies, and the mountain-spanning empires ruled by elites that came later. 'Controlled access to mystical experiences helps explain this major social transition,' the team wrote.
'It's exciting that ongoing excavations can be combined with cutting-edge archaeological science techniques,' Contreras said, 'to get us closer to understanding what it was like to live at this site.'
You Might Also Like
The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape
The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere
Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
AI Program Rewrites Timeline of Dead Sea Scrolls
A newly developed AI model has allowed researchers to re-date many of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of which now appear to be much older than previously thought. The University of Groningen announced the news in a June 4 press release. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in the Caves of Qumran, and in the decades since have recontextualized modern understandings of ancient Jewish practices as well as the Bible. Accurately dating the manuscripts is vital to understanding their influence, as well as the time at which they were AI model, known as Enoch, combined carbon-14 dating from 24 separate samples of Dead Sea Scrolls with an AI-driven handwriting analysis to examine micro-level ink-trace patterns on the scrolls. The model then compares known handwriting features with known radiocarbon dates, allowing the AI to understand how handwriting styles evolved throughout time. The AI model can predict the creation date of a given manuscript within 30 years, researchers results astounded scientists. Some scrolls, which were thought to have originated in the Hasmonaean period (150-50 B.C.) are now believed to be from several centuries earlier. Likewise, the Herodian script, which was believed to have been written in the mid-first century B.C., now appears to have been authored in the late second century B.C. "Enoch is the first complete machine-learning-based model that uses raw image inputs to produce probabilistic date predictions for ancient manuscripts," said Maruf Dali, the research team leader. They hope the technology can add similar context to other ancient manuscripts, which might help to understand the political and religious climates of the Program Rewrites Timeline of Dead Sea Scrolls first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 7, 2025


New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
American tourist, 41, died after drinking psychedelic tea at spiritual retreat in Peru
An American tourist died after drinking a psychedelic tea that caused a 'breakdown' of several organs while he was on a spiritual retreat in the Peruvian Amazon, according to reports. Aaron Wayne Castranova, 41, died Monday after ingesting ayahuasca — a potent hallucinogenic plant brew banned in the US — during a shamanic ritual at La Casa de Guillermo ICONA, a hostel known for its 'spiritual tourism' in Loreto. The hypnotic elixir triggered a multi-organ 'breakdown' that caused the Alabama man's lethal spiral, according to Narciso Lopez, the regional prosecutor's forensic pathologist, the Daily Mail reported. Advertisement Aaron Wayne Castranova, 41, died Monday after ingesting ayahuasca during a shamanic ritual at La Casa de Guillermo ICONA. Hostel managers reportedly claimed Castranova failed to inform ceremony organizers he was on antibiotics, which may have caused the fatal reaction, ahead of the ritual in Santa Maria de Ojeda's indigenous community. The mind-altering concoction, long used by Amazonian tribes for spiritual and healing rites, has surged in popularity among tourists seeking transformative experiences or relief from their mental health struggles — despite warnings from the US Embassy in Peru about its adverse effects. Advertisement 'These dangerous substances are often marketed to travelers in Peru as ceremonial or spiritual cleansers,' the US embassy website states. 'However, Ayahuasca is a psychoactive substance dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a strong hallucinogen that is illegal in the United States and many other countries.' Officials said that several US citizens died or suffered severe physical and mental health crises last year after consuming the drug. Others were sexually assaulted, injured, or robbed while under its influences, the website cautioned. Advertisement The trance-inducing mixture, made from a vine and leaf containing the powerful psychedelic, can cause 'irreversible damage' and death, Lopez warned, according to Infobae, an Argentine online news outlet. Officials said that several US citizens died or suffered severe physical and mental health crises last year after consuming the drug. Talita Santana Campos Embassy officials noted it can also lead to psychosis, neurological diseases, insomnia, and persistent hallucinations. Advertisement Short-term effects include nausea, vomiting and increased heart rate. Castronova's death comes a year after Maureen Rainford, a British mother of three, suffered a similar fate after using the reality-shifting drug at a Bolivian retreat, the Daily Mail reported.


Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Boston Globe
Health insurers seeking steep rate increases
Gov. Maura Healey, too, linked the merged market proposal to broader economic concerns. Advertisement 'Health care costs, as reflected in the proposed rates filed by health insurers, are simply unsustainable. I directed our Insurance Commissioner to closely scrutinize these filings as part of the rate review process,' Healey said in a statement to the News Service. 'What is clear is that we all must do much more to lower the cost of health care in this state.' Eight major health insurance providers late last month submitted the proposed rates they want to charge next year in the merged market, which combines under one umbrella individual insurance and small group insurance for businesses with no more than 50 eligible employees. The new annual weighted average base rates would all increase by varying amounts, with Fallon Community Health Plan's 9.9 percent the lowest and Boston Medical Center Health Plan's 16.2 percent the highest, according to DOI data. Advertisement Taken together, the proposals reflect an average increase of 13.4 percent affecting more than 720,000 renewing members, a sizable jump over the 8.36 percent growth regulators approved last year and the 4.8 percent growth in 2024. Eileen McAnenny, president of the Employer Coalition on Health, said those hikes would be 'very difficult for small businesses to absorb,' especially as employers navigate high costs for energy and unemployment insurance as well as the prospect of tariffs. 'Those rate increases are alarming when considered in the context that Massachusetts already has the second-highest health insurance premiums in the nation,' she said. 'But unfortunately, I don't think it's surprising given that we set a cost growth benchmark each year that providers and drug companies blow through without consequence, and that we keep providing supplemental payments to providers and expecting nothing in return — no improved efficiency, no transparency.' Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst said the 'vast majority' of his group's 4,000 members would be affected by increases in the merged market premium rates. 'The average small business in the retail, small restaurant world has sales today equal to pre-COVID. Their sales are flat, but their costs are through the roof, primarily health insurance,' Hurst said. 'We've seen, over the last five years, an increasing number of dark storefronts. It's still continuing long past COVID because of these cost increases, and health insurance premiums are by far the biggest nut.' DOI will review each of the eight rate filings individually, and the department can reject proposals if it finds that the increases are 'not reasonable in relation to health plan benefits, or if they are excessive or inadequate or use rating factors that are discriminatory or not actuarially sound,' the department wrote in an advisory. Advertisement Last year, several carriers DOI plans a virtual public hearing on June 17, where insurance carriers will present their proposals and others are invited to offer testimony, ahead of a final decision expected in August. 'We're going to tell them it's unaffordable, reject them. They can reject them,' Hurst said. 'Maybe the insurers need to go back to the drawing board and reopen these contract negotiations with hospitals and pharma companies.' The vast majority of the merged market rate increases would be driven by increasing medical and pharmacy claims, according to data insurers submitted to the state, with administrative costs, taxes and fees accounting for less than one-tenth of the total average hike. Individual and small group health plans are required to spend 88 percent of premium dollars on health care services instead of administrative or other costs. Insurers have long contended their hands are tied by high provider and prescription drug prices. Lora Pellegrini, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans group that represents insurers, said carriers 'are frustrated, too.' 'Premiums reflect those underlying health care costs. We have seen rate demands from providers in the high double digits. We have one provider who's asked for a 70 percent increase in their rate. Plans can only do so much,' Pellegrini said. 'The power of providers who have only gotten bigger and bigger with consolidation make it very hard for health plans to negotiate a robust deal, because consumers want these hospital systems in their networks.' Advertisement Pellegrini pointed to financial headaches at MassHealth and the Group Insurance Commission, the latter of which needed 'Private-sector health plans have those same challenges,' she said. Margins for private health insurers have been steadily declining. After peaking at 2.8 percent in 2020, the median private health insurer total margin dropped into the red in 2023 and fell again to -1.06 percent in 2024, according to data MAHP shared with the News Service. Financial strain is rampant across the health care landscape. Total health care spending per capita in Massachusetts The Division of Insurance has already flexed new authority to scrutinize health care costs. A market oversight law Healey signed in January tasked the office's regulators with determining whether proposed rates are 'excessive' by considering 'affordability for consumers and purchasers of health insurance products.' On March 12, the division 'We are actively looking at other actions we can take to contain these health costs,' Healey said. 'Everyone has a role to play – insurers, hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry – and everyone will need to step up to make Massachusetts a more affordable place to live and do business.' Advertisement Healey and the Legislature last term agreed on a hospital oversight and market review law and a measure intended to rein in prescription drug costs. While implementation of those laws unfolds, policymakers are weighing additional action to address what Asked how confident she is that Beacon Hill Democrats can navigate the thicket of competing interests to achieve additional reforms, McAnenny replied simply, 'I hold out hope.'