Investigating the use of coca and other psychoactive plants in Pre-Columbian mummies from Chile and Peru : an analytical investigation into the feasibility of testing ancient hair for drug compounds
Psychoactive plants have played a significant role in Andean cultures for millennia. Whilst there is evidence of the importance of psychoactive plants in the Andean archaeological record, none of these are direct proof that these culturally significant plants were used by ancient Andean populations. This project utilised liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to investigate the use of psychoactive plants in individuals from cemetery sites in Chile and Peru by analysing hair specimens for a variety of psychoactive compounds. Hair specimens from 46 individuals buried at cemetery sites in the Azapa Valley (northern Chile) belonging to the Cabuza culture (c AD 300 Âż 1000) indicated around half of these people ingested coca, as evidenced by the detection of BZE in hair specimens. Two individuals from this population tested positive for bufotenine, the main alkaloid in Anadenanthera snuff. There is a specific material culture associated with snuffing. These findings confirm Anadenanthera was consumed in the Azapa Valley. The 11 individuals from Peru came from the necropolis at Puruchuco-Huaquerones in the RĂ­mac valley near Lima. These individuals belonged to the Ichma culture, but would have
Brown, Emma Louise
Inca ; Cabuza ; Human remains ; Coco ; Bufotenine ; Bioarchaeology ; Andes ; Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) ; Psychoactive plants ; Pre-Columbian mummies ; Azapa Valley, Chile ; Anadenanthera ; Puruchuco-Huaquerones, Peru
Investigating the use of coca and other psychoactive plants in Pre-Columbian mummies from Chile and Peru : an analytical investigation into the feasibility of testing ancient hair for drug compounds. Psychoactive plants have played a significant role in Andean cultures for millennia. Whilst there is evidence of the importance of psychoactive plants in the Andean archaeological record, none of these are direct proof that these culturally significant plants were used by ancient Andean populations. This project utilised liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to investigate the use of psychoactive plants in individuals from cemetery sites in Chile and Peru by analysing hair specimens for a variety of psychoactive compounds. Hair specimens from 46 individuals buried at cemetery sites in the Azapa Valley (northern Chile) belonging to the Cabuza culture (c AD 300 Âż 1000) indicated around half of these people ingested coca, as evidenced by the detection of BZE in hair specimens. Two individuals from this population tested positive for bufotenine, the main alkaloid in Anadenanthera snuff. There is a specific material culture associated with snuffing. These findings confirm Anadenanthera was consumed in the Azapa Valley. The 11 individuals from Peru came from the necropolis at Puruchuco-Huaquerones in the RĂ­mac valley near Lima. These individuals belonged to the Ichma culture, but would have
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