Pre-Hispanic ritual use of psychoactive plants at Chavín de Huántar, Peru

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2425125122
• Publication Date: 2025-05-05T19:08:54Z
• Authors: John W. Rick; Verónica S. Lema; Javier Echeverría; Giuseppe Alva Val...; Daniel A. Contreras; Oscar Arias Espinoza; Silvana A. Rosenfeld; Matthew P. Sayre
• Keywords: Psychoactive substance; Consumption

Ritual is broadly accepted as an important locus of social interaction in the pre-Hispanic Central Andes, and research into development durable sociopolitical inequality region often focuses on political roles public rituals. At Middle-Late Formative Period (ca. 1200–400 BCE) monumental center Chavín de Huántar, well at contemporary sites, ritual has long been hypothesized to include use psychoactive plants. However, neither plant remains nor chemical traces compounds likely contexts have identified any these sites. Recently excavated deposits sealed underground gallery contained twenty-three artifacts forms (especially bone tubes) associated with consumption plants elsewhere region. We here report, based independent microbotanical analyses, two kinds direct evidence for institutionalized Chavín. These results are archaeological tubes used inhalers northernmost vilca Nicotiana Andes.