Psychedelics Allowed Ancient Peruvians to Consolidate Power, Study Says
The study, published May 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the ancient Chavín people, a pre-Incan society that dwelt in the Peruvian Andes, consumed tobacco and hallucinogenic plants during secretive rituals open only to an elite few. Chavín leaders may have controlled access to these trippy experiences as a way to gain prestige and influence.
'Taking psychoactives was not just about seeing visions. It was part of a tightly controlled ritual, likely reserved for a select few, reinforcing the social hierarchy,' Daniel Contreras, anthropological archaeologist at the University of Florida and co-author of the new study, said in a statement.
Researchers already knew that intricate rituals were a big part of Chavín culture. To learn more about these rituals, a group of researchers from universities in the United States and in South America analyzed artifacts found at Chavín de Huántar, a UNESCO world heritage site in the Peruvian highlands. There, inside monumental stone structures, they uncovered what they suspected was ancient drug paraphernalia: hollow, cigarette-sized tubes made from bird bones.
When the scientists conducted microscopic and chemical analyses of the hollow tubes, they found traces of a molecule similar to dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a powerful psychoactive compound that naturally occurs in plants that are native to Peru. DMT can cause brief, intense trips, complete with hallucinations.
Researchers found these 'snuff tubes' in small private chambers, suggesting that access to the drugs was likely quite exclusive.
Chavín people likely weren't using these drugs to have a good time. The scientists speculate that through these rituals, leaders established themselves as connected to the mystical and supernatural. By controlling access to these wild and powerful experiences, leaders might have been able to cement their status.
So, these hallucinatory rituals might have also spurred fundamental changes in Chavín society, the study finds. The Chavín have been linked to earlier, more egalitarian societies. But the controlled access to weird, mystical experiences may help explain the transition over to the hierarchical societies that came later.
'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.'
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