Month: May 2019

1,000-Year-Old Psychedelic Drug Kit Contains Traces of Cocaine and Ayahuasca  Gizmodo

Archaeologists in the Bolivian Andes have discovered a 1000-year-old ritual bundle—basically a stash of drug paraphernalia—containing traces five different …

Scientists Discover Rich Trove Of Ancient Mind-Altering Drugs In South America  HuffPost

Researchers have discovered evidence of cocaine and hallucinogenic compounds in a leather bag believed to have belonged to shamans at an ancient burial site in Bolivia, according to Science magazine. An analysis of the findings beneath ancient llama dung revealed evidence of “multiple psychoactive plants,” including key compounds (harmine and dimethyltryptamine) of the hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca (which is still used today). It’s considered the richest find to date of ancient mind-altering drugs in South America. The drugs were discovered inside the leather bag in a 1,000-year-old smalle…

Ancient Bolivian Fox-Snout Pouch Contained Cocaine And Other Hallucinogenic Drugs  Forbes

The pouch constructed of three fox snouts stitched together. The pouch was tightly wrapped with a wool string. A small scraping of the inside of the pouch was analyzed for psychoactive compounds and indicated cocaine, benzoylecgonine, bufotenine, harmine, dimethyltryptamine, and a peak possibly from psilocin. In a rock shelter known as Cueva del Chileno in the highlands of southwestern Bolivia, archaeologists have discovered a group of artifacts including a fox-snout pouch that revealed evidence of hallucinogenic drug use more than a thousand years ago. Excavated from 2008-2010, the rock sh…

Ayahuasca fixings found in 1000-year-old Andean sacred bundle  UC Berkeley

Today’s hipster creatives and entrepreneurs are hardly the first generation to partake of ayahuasca, according to archaeologists who have discovered traces of …