CHAVÍN DE HUÁNTAR, PERU—More than two thousand years ago, high in Peru's Andes Mountains, the key to maintaining power and control may have been access to psychoactive drugs, according to a statement released by the University of Florida (UFL). Before the region was dominated by the Inca Empire, it was home to a society known as Chavín, who established sites such as Chavín de Huántar, which was inhabited between 1200 and 400 b.c. Recent excavations at the ceremonial site uncovered ancient snuff tubes made of bone that were buried within monumental stone structures. Chemical and microscopic analysis revealed that they contained traces of nicotine from wild relatives of tobacco and vilca bean residue, a hallucinogen related to DMT. This is the earliest direct evidence of the use of psychoactive plants in the Peruvian Andes. Researchers believe that these objects and substances were used only by a small subset of the population, since they were found in small private chambers to which access would have been restricted. “Taking psychoactives was not just about seeing visions," said UFL archaeologist Daniel Contreras. "It was part of a tightly controlled ritual, likely reserved for a select few, reinforcing the social hierarchy." Experiences with these substances enveloped the users with an aura of the supernatural. By controlling access to these altered states, Chavín’s rulers convinced their people that their leadership was intertwined with mystical power and part of the natural order. To read about traces of psychoactive substances detected in the hair of mummified individuals uncovered in southern Peru, go to "Earliest Ayahuasca Trip."
